It appears that Tottenham are pulling out all of the stops to try and keep Harry Kane, as they are reportedly closing in on a move for Lautaro Martinez.
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After signing highly-rated center back Cristian Romero from Atalanta, a report from The Times in the UK says that Spurs have agreed a $83.2 million fee with Inter Milan for striker Lautaro Martinez.
I know what you’re thinking, that was my thought too. But apparently Martinez will not replace Kane but play up front alongside him.
Update: Via Fabrizio Romano, Martinez’s agent says he is not trying to push for a move away from Inter amid the interest from Tottenham.
Lautaro Martinez’ agent Alejandro Camano again: “He’s never gonna have a fight with Inter to leave the club. Never. Lautaro’s an Inter player and he’s happy in Italy”, he told @fcin1908it about Spurs interest. 🇦🇷 #THFC #Lautaro
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 8, 2021
With Heung-min Son locked into a new long-term contract plus the likes of Lucas Moura, Dele Alli, Steven Bergwijn and new young winger Bryan Gil around, Tottenham are looking very top heavy but it appears they have a plan.
Tottenham leading Arsenal in Martinez chase
Per the report from The Times, Tottenham have marched ahead of Arsenal in the race to sign Martinez.
The Argentine forward, who starred alongside new Tottenham signing Cristian Romero as La Albiceleste won the Copa America this summer, has long been linked with a move to Barcelona. But due to Barca’s financial issues he’s not heading to the Nou Camp anytime soon.
Instead it is Tottenham who have agreed a fee with Inter, who have also agreed to sell Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea for over $135 million in recent days. Given Inter Milan’s money problems, they will have raised over $300 million through transfer fees alone this summer if these deals for Martinez and Lukaku go through alongside selling Achraf Hakimi to PSG.
If this deal for Martinez does go through, it is a game-changer for Tottenham. His goals, surging runs and link-up play would work really well alongside Kane and Son up top. His partnership with Romelu Lukaku at Inter was unstoppable at times and Martinez, 23, is right on the edge of becoming the next superstar striker in Europe.
Is this enough to keep Kane?
Quite where this money has come from remains to be seen as Tottenham will have smashed their transfer record and committed to spending $65 million on a new center back (Romero’s deal is initially a loan with an obligation to buy next summer) in the same week, as new sporting director Fabio Paratici is making some serious moves and backing new manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Will all of this be enough to keep Harry Kane? Perhaps.
But it does seem likely that his move to Manchester City may still happen and all of this big-spending from Spurs is happening in advance of selling their prized asset.
If Kane doesn’t leave, then Spurs have just pushed themselves into the top four conversation with the singing of Romero and possibly Martinez. Nobody really expected this from Tottenham and it seems like Kane’s tough talking about pushing for trophies and getting back into the Champions League is having the impact he wanted it to have.