Arsenal missed out on a surprise last-minute attempt to sign the £73m forward as a backup plan to Julian Alvarez.
Arsenal made a surprising attempt to sign a backup plan for Julian Alvarez near the end of the transfer window, according to reports.
The Gunners finished the window with five new players, though none were signed on the last day. Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimaraes, Piero Hincapie, and Ezri Konsa all joined the team, and Illan Meslier came in on a free transfer.
Manager Mikel Arteta strengthened the defense and midfield well. However, despite adding Tzolis as a new left winger, the attack ended up weaker than before the summer. That’s because Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, and Gabriel Jesus all left Arsenal. While Jesus didn’t play much recently, Trossard and Martinelli shared time on the left side.
To improve his attack, Arteta really wanted to bring in a star forward. At first, Arsenal looked at Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa, but he chose to join Chelsea instead. Then, they tried to sign Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and were ready to spend big, but he decided to stay at Madrid after signing a new long-term contract.
Next, Arsenal went after Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez, who wanted to leave his club this summer. Fans even booed him at a match against Villarreal because of this. However, Arsenal couldn’t sign Alvarez because he dreamed of moving to Barcelona instead—and even though Atletico tried to block that move, they asked for a huge £128 million, which Arsenal thought was too high.
Still hoping to land a big name, Arsenal’s assistant coach Gabriel Heinze reached out to Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez recently. But Inter wasn’t interested in selling their captain, who is valued around £73 million and under contract for three more years. Martinez had a great season last year, scoring 22 goals and helping Inter win Serie A.
Martinez would have been a major boost for Arsenal’s attack. Right now, Kai Havertz is Arteta’s main striker and started well with a goal against Coventry City. But Havertz isn’t a traditional center-forward like Martinez. Viktor Gyokeres is the second-choice striker but hasn’t played yet this season in the Premier League, which might show Arteta doesn’t fully trust him—explaining why the team was actively looking for a new striker.