As previously revealed by football.london, Arsenal's main priority when the summer transfer window opens is to sign two forwards, and this strategy has resurfaced links to Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez.
The Argentina international was linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium last summer, but he ended up staying in Italy - amid links to Tottenham Hotspur as well - and committing his future to the Nerazzuri by signing a contract extension that keeps him at the club until at least June 2026.
However, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gone and Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah set to leave when their contracts expire in three months, the Gunners have reportedly contacted Martinez's agent in order to address their striking options.
READ MORE: Following Edu's £35 million Arsenal transfer request, Gabriel Martinelli will take on a new role under Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal may have to compete with Barcelona, Manchester United, and a slew of other big-name clubs across Europe to sign Martinez this summer. However, the striker's agent, Alejandro Camano, insisted in February that, despite ongoing rumors, the 24-year-old was happy at the San Siro.
"Lautaro doesn't think about himself; he only thinks about Inter," Camano told FCInternews.it. "He wants to help and make fans happy." Inter haven't scored many goals recently, but it's just a phase and they'll start scoring again soon. Lautaro is only interested in Inter winning; he is uninterested in personal success.
According to the Italian publication Calciomercato, Inter would likely let Martinez leave this summer if they received a bid in the region of €70 million (£58.5 million). Given that the Serie A giants reportedly set a fee of £76.8 million for the striker less than a year ago, this latest development provides Arsenal technical director Edu with an opportunity to pull off a coup.
If the Gunners are willing to pay the reported £58.5 million transfer fee, the Brazilian will save the club around £18 million based on the asking price from last summer, while also providing Mikel Arteta's first-team squad with a centre forward who has enjoyed great success since moving to Europe from Argentina in 2018.
In total, he made 171 appearances across all competitions.
Priority number one is that he puts the ball in the net," the Spaniard stated earlier this month. "Attack on goal." Any successful team must have a sufficient number of goal threats on its roster. You have nothing without it. You can play good football, but your team lacks a goal threat. " The other thing is that he needs to complement the other people we have, both personally and on the pitch, and we need the right profile for that. We need a profile that allows us to exploit his qualities while also utilizing the qualities we already have, so we don't have to change our style of play to accommodate that specific player. He must be a certain age and have a certain level of experience.
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