Arsenal set for striker transfer battle with Manchester City

Anyone would think it was still January with the amount of rumours swirling, all of which have months to fester with Arsenal still having 16 matches to play before transfers even come into the equation.

Even after the final game of the season against Everton on May 22 there will be time left to settle before the summer window opens, none of which has prevented the rumour mill from churning out fresh speculation.

Striker is an easy point of discussion when it comes to Arsenal considering the overwhelming likelihood that they will need to sign two at the end of the season to account for Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah’s respective contracts expiring.

Arsenal will therefore require one elite option to be starting every week, as well as one perhaps younger who can grow and develop into the role and eventually provide competition. Armando Broja has been tipped as one such option.

Arsenal set for Lautaro Martinez battle with Manchester City & Tottenham as trio eye Inter striker as summer transfer target

As for the marquee name, Calcio Mercato have thrown Lautaro Martinez’s name back into the ring. He will most likely may be familiar to most, considering he has being heavily linked with a move to north London just last summer. Indeed, this particular rumour is back again.

Manchester City have been thrown back into the mix for additional dramatic effect, while links to Antonio Conte and Spurs are some that have been prevalent elsewhere for some time. Martinez played some of his best football under the Italian, netting 40 goals in 84 games.

Harry Kane is thought to be keen on linking up with Mauricio Pochettino should he take over a Manchester United in the summer, and therefore Spurs will have to eventually replace the man they should have sold for the staggering £150m, while Man City will need to look elsewhere.

As a profile there is a lot to like with Martinez, and a lot not to like – just as there was back in the summer – and he’s someone who has the tools to operate as Arsenal’s false nine style striker with the addition of having goal threat and predatory instincts in his neat technical package. Does he need a partner, though? Likely.

Importantly, he also signed a new contract running until 2026, which is why this sounds somewhat far-fetched.

Interest from the north London rivals is no secret with concrete reports last July confirming as much, but Martinez was going to cost a fortune back then when his contract was running down, so one dare not imagine how much Inter would be charging at this stage.

Naturally, their owners want to keep raising funds, yet if Arsenal are going to blow the bank on a striker one would imagine it would be on the players that have been most recently suggested as the club’s priority targets: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Alexander Isak and Jonathan David.

With talk of a fee in the £70m+ region, Arsenal won’t be rushing into any decisions. It just feels like Calvert-Lewin is somewhat inevitable, doesn’t it?