Tottenham Hotspur made a club-record bid to sign Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez this summer – but he wasn’t tempted by the move.
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who made the claim on his ‘Here We Go’ podcast on Tuesday.
Romano claims that Fabio Paratici offered a staggering deal worth around €90million (£77million), made up of €70million (£60million) up front and €20million (£17million) in add-ons.
Half of the add-ons were considered ‘complicated’ because they would have relied on Martinez to win trophies and titles at Tottenham.
The offer met Inter’s general asking price, but they rejected the bid because they had already sold a star striker – Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea.
Romano added that Martinez wasn’t even that tempted by the move anyway, largely because he wants to play in the Champions League – and Tottenham can’t offer that.
“Tottenham made a proposal for €70million plus €20million add-ons, to arrive to €90million total for Lautaro Martinez, the price tag that Inter were asking,” said Romano. “The proposal was €70million guaranteed, €10million easy add-ons – really easy to be reached, appearances of the player with Tottenham – and €10million related to the most complicated part of Lautaro Martinez’s career, like winning titles.”
“Inter were absolutely not prepared to sell Lautaro Martinez, because this proposal from Tottenham was after they sold Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea. From what I’m told, also Lautaro Martinez wanted to stay. He was not so tempted, because he wants to play Champions League football. He was talking with Tottenham, yes, but it was not something agreed on personal terms,” he added.
What a deal this would have been.
Martinez, 24, smashed 40 goals across his last two seasons at Inter, hitting 17 league goals in their title-winning campaign last term.
The Argentinian is diminutive but just scores goals, and the idea of him working alongside Harry Kane would be enough to excite any Tottenham fan.
Just where was this money coming from is the question. It’s suggested that Tottenham wanted Martinez alongside Kane, not to replace him.
Yet the £77million fee would shatter Tottenham’s transfer record, which stands at £55million for Tanguy Ndombele.
It just wasn’t meant to be for Tottenham with Martinez, but the pursuit suggests that Paratici has big plans in mind for Spurs.
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