Arsenal are ready to break the bank for Lautaro Martinez, with the Inter Milan star targeted as the striker of choice for manager Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners enjoyed a quiet transfer window in the end, with a late move for Ollie Watkins failing to materialise for Aston Villa's quoted price. It means that Arsenal will be heading into the second half of the season with just four recognised senior attackers, in the absence of the injured Bukayo Saka (hamstring) and Gabriel Jesus (ACL).
Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli are the first-choice frontline at current – and the attacking trio that Arteta chose to start against Manchester City – with Raheem Sterling and midfielder Ethan Nwaneri both options on the flanks.
Arsenal are willing to break their transfer record to secure Lautaro Martinez
At current, Arsenal's record signing is Declan Rice, who signed for £105 million, as per the BBC. The Gunners would have to break this figure, however, to lure Martinez to the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have played it cautiously with big spending ever since landing Rice, but with sporting director Edu Gaspar having now left the club and Arteta with a bigger role in recruitment, the Basque boss might be about to have more of a say over his choice of no.9 this summer.
Spanish outlet Fichajes have reported on the “bombshell” that Arsenal are looking to spend €120m on Inter Milan star Martinez, who is ranked at no.6 in FourFourTwo's list of the best strikers in the world right now.
“The Nerazzurri board knows that it would be difficult to reject a proposal of such magnitude, especially considering the club's financial needs,” the report states, noting that the player's entourage are open to the challenge of English football.
The Argentine would be the kind of striker who could offer the kind of link-up and hold-up play that Arteta demands from Havertz as a false nine, while being more of a presence within the penalty box, too. Martinez has frequently partnered another player in two-striker systems at the San Siro, too, meaning that Arteta could revive the 4-2-4 shape that he's used to get Havertz alongside one of Trossard or Jesus.
Arteta's positional fluidity is another thing that may swing the idea of signing Martinez, who is used to interchanging positions with team-mates under Simone Inzaghi. Intriguingly, TVplay in Italy linked Arsenal to fellow Inter star, Marcus Thuram, over the January transfer window, suggesting that Arsenal see attackers from the Serie A giants as good fits for their own needs.
FourFourTwo understands that while Martinez is a player admired greatly by Arteta, Benjamin Sesko is seen as the ideal forward that the Gunners want to sign in the summer transfer window.
Arsenal were said to be planning on a January move for the RB Leipzig man as early as October, with hope midway through the window that the Slovenian could be available.
The 6ft 5in 21-year-old has shown the kind of qualities as a target man to make him an alternative to Havertz while having the kind of speed and movement to run in behind and play alongside the German.
Lautaro Martinez is valued by Transfermarkt to be worth €100m. Arsenal travel to Newcastle United this week in League Cup action, as they look to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit and reach a second major cup final under Arteta.
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