Arsenal ready to triple wages of striker in bid to beat Tottenham to £60m deal

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal pre-season, 2021

Arsenal are reportedly ready to more than triple Lautaro Martinez’s salary in their bid to beat Tottenham to the Inter Milan striker’s signature.

Reports emerged on Sunday that Spurs had agreed a deal to snap up the Argentina star, having scouted Martinez for the last two years. They view the forward as a perfect partner for Harry Kane and not necessarily a replacement for the wantaway England skipper.

However, Inter’s stance was quickly revealed, with the Serie A champions insisting the player is going nowhere despite their financial troubles.

Inter are on the brink of offloading Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea for £97.5m to balance the books. But they are determined not to lose their top two strikers in the same transfer window.

That being said, if big-money offers come flooding in they are likely to buckle.

As for the player himself, Martinez is known to be happy in Milan and is not looking for an exit.

August 10 Transfer Chatter - Leicester target Serie A double swoop, Lingard to replace Arsenal-bound midfielder and Messi to hand Man Utd boost?

August 10 Transfer Chatter - Leicester target Serie A double swoop, Lingard to replace Arsenal-bound midfielder and Messi to hand Man Utd boost?

Leicester City are targeting an experienced pair in Italy, Jesse Lingard could return to former club as Arsenal-bound midfielder's replacement and Lionel Messi moving to Paris could help Manchester United keep Paul Pogba, all in today's transfer chatter.

That decision might alter, however, if the report on Eurosport turns out to be accurate.

The 23-year-old is valued at around £60m by Inter, a figure that both north London rivals are willing to play.

However, Eurosport indicates that the Gunners would more than triple Martinez’s wages from £81,000-per-week to a whopping £275,000-a-week, having already discussed personal terms.


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Arsenal proposal too good for Spurs

The report adds that Arsenal technical director Edu’s proposal should be enough to beat Tottenham to the attacker.

But Football.London has seemingly thrown a spanner in the works. They claim that Martinez wants to join compatriots Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso at Spurs.

Alex Sandro, Lautaro Martinez, Juventus v Inter Milan TEAMtalk

Inter are currently lining up a replacement for Lukaku, with Roma star Edin Dzeko high on their radar.

TuttoMercatoWEB also claims they are chasing Lazio’s Joaquin Correa and Ciro Immobile and Atalanta’s Duvan Zapata.

It now remains to be seen what they want to do with Martinez. Especially if a bidding war between the north London rivals emerges.

The Argentina star, who won the Copa America this summer, scored 17 goals last season and added 10 assists.

READ MORE: Arsenal, Tottenham offers coming ‘soon’ as battle rages for French attacker