Arsenal's main priority when the summer transfer window opens is to sign two forwards, as previously revealed by football.london, and this plan of action has seen links to Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez resurface.
Talk of the Argentina international moving to the Emirates Stadium first emerged last summer, although he ended up staying in Italy - amid links to Tottenham Hotspur as well - and committed his future to the Nerazzuri by signing a contract extension that keeps him at the club until June 2026 at the latest.
But with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gone as well as Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah likely to leave when their contracts expire in three months time, the Gunners' need to address their striking options has resulted in them reportedly contacting Martinez's agent over a possible summer transfer.
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For Arsenal to sign Martinez this summer, they may have to fend off competition from the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and several other big-name clubs across Europe. But when speaking in February, Alejandro Camano, the 24-year-old's agent insisted that, despite ongoing rumours, the striker was happy at the San Siro.
"Lautaro doesn't think about himself, he only thinks about Inter," said Camano, speaking to FCInternews.it. "He wants to help and wants fans to be happy. Inter haven’t scored many goals lately, but it’s just a process and will return to scoring, that’s for sure. Lautaro wants Inter to win, he is not interested in personal success. We must remain calm because Lautaro is happy at Inter and is happy with Inter fans."
Of course, a lot can change between now and the end of the season as Martinez could want a new challenge and may relish the opportunity to spearhead Arsenal's fresh attack for the 2022/23 campaign. So will it be second time lucky for the north London outfit in their quest to sign the striker?
Well, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato, Inter would likely allow Martinez to leave this summer if they were to receive an offer in the region of €70million (£58.5million). Given the Serie A giants reportedly set a price tag of £76.8million for the striker less than 12 months ago, this latest development provides Arsenal technical director Edu with a chance to pull off a masterstroke.
If the Gunners are willing to pay the reported £58.5m transfer fee, then the Brazilian will save the club around £18m based on the asking price from last summer and boost Mikel Arteta's first-team squad in the process with a centre forward who has enjoyed great success since moving to Europe from Argentina in 2018.
In 171 appearances across all competitions for Inter, Martinez has 65 goals. Whilst his 22 assists highlight he can be more than just a goalscorer and these qualities effectively describe the perfect No.9 for the Gunners following Arteta's comments about what he wants from his main striker.
"He puts the ball in the net, that’s priority number one," the Spaniard said earlier in the month. "Goal threat. Any successful team needs enough goal threat in the squad. Without it, you have nothing. You can play good football but you need enough goal threat in the team.
"The other thing is that he has to complement the other people we have, personally and on the pitch, and for that, we need the right profile. We need a profile where you can exploit his qualities at the same time as the qualities we already have, so we don’t have to transform our way of playing again to adapt to that specific player. He has to have a certain age, a certain level of experience, and he has to be able to come here and play under the pressure of being at Arsenal."
