Arsenal are interested in signing Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, the Telegraph reports.
What's the latest transfer news involving Lautaro Martinez?
The report discloses that the Gunners have made an inquiry to the Serie A champions about the 23-year-old, who recently scored three goals in six games as he helped Argentina win the Copa America.
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How did Martinez perform last season?
Martinez performed well last season as he helped Inter win the title, contributing 19 goals and 11 assists in 48 appearances. WhoScored shows just how well the striker performed in the league, as he was Inter's second top scorer with 17 goals.
He also rated highly when it came to assists, finishing in joint-fourth place in the Inter squad with six for the season. Martinez was in first place in another category, as he had the most shots per game for Inter, with an average of 2.9.
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Is striker a priority position for Arsenal?
Some fans might think that striker shouldn't be a top priority for Arsenal at the moment, and that perhaps signing a goalkeeper to challenge Bernd Leno should come first. But Transfermarkt shows that the frontline might soon become a key issue for manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu.
As it stands, Arsenal have three strikers in their first-team squad. But only one, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has a long-term contract at the club. The others, Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah, are both out of contract in 2022. That could see Arsenal forced into a decision soon if neither player extend their current deals.
The Gunners will not want either Lacazette or Nketiah to leave on a free transfer. If no new deals are agreed the duo could well be sold before the end of the current transfer window.
Should that happen then the forward line would likely become the top priority at the club. So it does make sense that Arsenal are interested in a quality striker like Martinez.
Is the interest a sign of Edu's ambition in the transfer market?
The Telegraph report discloses that the interest in Martinez is a sign of technical director Edu's ambition in the transfer market. Indeed, attempting to sign the Inter striker is certainly an audacious move. He has just won the league title in Italy, is valued at £72m by Transfermarkt, and Inter have no intention of selling.
If Arsenal do manage to sign the forward it would be a statement of intent by both Edu and the club that they mean business and are willing to spend big money to return to the Champions League. Pulling off such a deal would likely give Edu plenty of credit with the fans too, as it would show that Arsenal can still attract big name talents to the North London club.
Without top tier European football on offer, though, it would surely take a pretty incredible pitch to convince Martinez to join - and a huge transfer fee to goad Inter into selling.