SHARE

Atletico Madrid are very keen to get ahead of the competition, which includes Manchester City and Arsenal, and sign Lautaro Martinez, report AS on Wednesday.

The Spanish newspaper claim Atletico have already submitted a €11.5m offer for the 20 year old striker, but were rejected as his current club, Racing, are holding out for €15m.

A reason to try and rush the operation is building claims of interest from others, with AS naming Real Madrid, Arsenal, Valencia, Manchester City and AS Monaco.

Embed from Getty Images

For the English teams, Manchester City would perhaps have the advantage, given they already have a well built and used network of clubs they could easily loan Martinez to, showing the player a career progression.

AS say Racing Club are adamant, and want the full €15m, a situation which is said to be frustrating the player’s agent. Jorge Sampaoli has Martinez on his agenda for the Argentine team, which is one of the reasons Atletico are in a rush, because if he gets called up the price will only go one way.

Manchester City and Arsenal interest isn’t presented as leading to an imminent offer, but either club could easily deal with the figures mentioned.