Tottenham were willing to pay club-record fee for star this summer – report
A report from Italian outlet Calciomercato has claimed that Tottenham were willing to pay €90million for a striker this summer.
The north London side spent around £116million to bring in five players during the recent transfer window, which closed on August 31. Pierluigi Gollini and Cristian Romero both arrived on initial loan deals from Atalanta.
Bryan Gil signed from Sevilla as part of a deal which took Eric Lamela to Spain. Senegalese starlet Pape Sarr joined for £14.5m, while their only deadline day acquisition was Brazilian right-back Emerson Royal.
Harry Kane’s transfer saga meant Tottenham were linked with a number of top strikers. England goalscorers Danny Ings and Patrick Bamford were two such players.
One striker who seemed close to joining Nuno Espirito Santo’s side is Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.
Tottenham apparently submitted a significant bid for the 24-year-old, only to be knocked back.
Calciomercato (via Sport Witness) now write that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was willing to break the club record for Martinez.
He was willing to part with €90m (£76.8m) to bring the Argentina international to England, in the event of Kane leaving for Manchester City.
Such a move would have blown the club’s existing record out of the water. It currently stands at €60m (£53.8m), which resulted in Tanguy Ndombele joining from Lyon.
The report states that Inter were not willing to sanction any move for Martinez, despite the huge fees being touted. They were already facing fan backlash from the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi. The player himself was also unwilling to leave Serie A.
Martinez now looks set to pledge his long-term future to Inter. On September 8, reports emerged stating that he was in line for a new five-year contract.
The player has notched 51 goals for Inter in all competitions since joining the club three years ago.
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Pochettino reveals Tottenham pursuit
Former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed his hunt for Morocco wing-back Hakimi while in England.
The pair linked up in the summer, as Hakimi joined PSG for £60.9million. But Pochettino has revealed that there were talks over a move to Spurs in the past.
“Achraf is a young player [I have] been following since [I was] at Tottenham,” he told UEFA.
“We were on the edge of signing him for Tottenham, but then he went to play for Dortmund.
“He has a great capacity to run, his physical potential is huge. He is young, he’s maturing at the defensive level, but he makes a lot of contributions in attack.”
READ MORE: Nuno pushes Tottenham for Uruguayan star as transfer path clears
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