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“Serious interest” – Arsenal working on deal to sign Argentinean star

By mac14 on July 30, 2021

According to journalist Pete O’Rourke, Arsenal are showing ‘really serious’ interest in signing Lautaro Martinez and are working on a deal involving Hector Bellerin to land the Inter Milan striker.

Most Arsenal fans will know by now that we’re in the market for a new goalkeeper, central midfielder and No.10 having already snapped-up left-back Nuno Tavares, midfielder Albert Lokonga and centre-back Ben White [waiting for confirmation].

However, surprisingly, reports in recent weeks have suggested that Arsenal are also looking to sign another striker with the club ready to offload Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah – who’re both in the last year of their contracts.

Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham has been linked but Martinez emerged as a target earlier this week when The Telegraph reported that Arsenal have made contact with Inter Milan to discuss a potential deal.

Now, journalist Pete O’Rourke has confirmed that Arsenal have a ‘really serious interest’ in signing Martinez and are working on ways to try and get a deal done for the South American hitman.

O’Rourke says Inter Milan’s £77m valuation has deterred Arsenal but we’re hoping to use Hector Bellerin as bait to reduce the initial financial outlay by offering the right-back as part of a player-plus-cash swap deal.

Speaking to The Football Terrace YouTube channel, O’Rourke said:

“It seems really serious interest from Arsenal in the Inter Milan striker Laurato Martinez. Arsenal really seem to be trying to push for this deal to see if there’s any way to make it happen.”

“His price tag is pretty steep. You’re talking around £77m that Inter would want to sell the South American. That hasn’t really deterred Arsenal so far, they’re just trying to come up with inventive ways they could come to an agreement with Inter Milan and they think the ace up their sleeve is Hector Bellerin.”

Inter will be reluctant to lose Martinez but the striker has just two years left on his contract so they may decide now is a good time to cash-in while his value remains high – particularly if they get Bellerin in exchange.

Inter have made no secret of their interest in Bellerin so it makes sense for Arsenal to try and use him in any deal involving Martinez – although reports suggest that Inter would prefer to sign the right-back on an initial loan.

Let’s see how this progresses but it’s clear Martinez would be an excellent signing if Arsenal could somehow pull it off as the 23-year-old has developed into a top class forward during his time in Italy.

The Argentinean international would be a huge upgrade on Lacazette but any potential deal is contingent on us selling the Frenchman for a decent fee – which is far from certain.

It also won’t be easy to negotiate a swap deal involving Bellerin so I’m not getting my hopes up that Martinez will be arriving at the Emirates Stadium any time soon. In fact, it’s highly unlikely.

You can watch O’Rourke discussing Arsenal’s interest in full below, starting at around 4:20: