Lautauro Martinez turned down a huge offer from Tottenham this summer as he wanted to remain loyal to Inter Milan.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who provide details on how much Spurs were willing to pay to bring the Argentine to the club.
Reports throughout the summer linked Tottenham with a move for Martinez, who it was felt could leave Inter Milan as they sold off their stars to balance the books.
It appeared they were willing to pay big to secure his signature, particularly as uncertainty regarding Harry Kane’s future continued to rumble on.
Ultimately a move never happened, and Martinez stayed at Inter, something he had promised the club’s fans he would do.
CM cover that today, saying he has ‘not betrayed’ the Italian club by moving elsewhere and is set to sign a new five-year deal that will make him the highest-paid player in the squad.
He will see his salary tripled at the club, who have used the funds from the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea to ensure Martinez remains theirs for the foreseeable future.
Even better, Inter have managed to convince his agents to remove the €111m release clause from his previous deal, meaning the Serie A side will be in a better position should clubs come calling in future.
That seems likely after Tottenham were knocking at the door this summer, offering €70m plus €10m in ‘easily achievable’ bonuses and €10m in ‘difficult’ ones.
Inter held their ground and rejected that, knowing they could not afford to say goodbye to Martinez in the same summer they had already waved off Lukaku.
And that has now worked in their favour, with the star having ‘kept his word’ to sign a new deal and continue to score goals for the Nerazzurri.
