Arsenal Called Lautaro Martinez Once the Alvarez Deal Was Dead

Arsenal spent the last week of the window doing something different from what everyone watching thought they were doing. The Julian Alvarez speculation ran all the way to deadline day. Inside the club, according to the Daily Mail, the chase was already dead by the previous weekend, and the search had moved on.

One of the names it moved on to was Lautaro Martinez.

Heinze made the call

The approach did not come through agents or intermediaries. It came from the coaching staff.

"Daily Mail Sport understands assistant manager Gabriel Heinze reached out to Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, a fellow Argentine, early last week over a potential move. In response Inter refused to entertain any kind of deal, the attacker still having three years left on his contract."

• Daily Mail

Three years on a contract and a €85m valuation, about £73m, is not a situation that bends in the final week of a window. Inter did not need to negotiate, so they did not.

What Arsenal were actually short of

The forward line was rebuilt by subtraction this summer. Leandro Trossard left. Gabriel Jesus went to Barcelona. Gabriel Martinelli is heading to Al-Hilal before the Saudi window closes.

Coming the other way: Christos Tzolis, and that is essentially it in attack.

Arsenal targeted Morgan Rogers, Vinicius Junior and Alvarez, and landed none of them. The club's stated position all summer was that it would only move for a marquee addition, which is a defensible policy right up to the moment the window shuts and you are left with Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres and a squad that has sold three forwards.

The Heinze call is the evidence that the club knew it. Ringing a 28-year-old Scudetto winner with three years on his deal, days before the deadline, is not opportunism. It is a team that has run out of realistic options looking for one that is not.

Martinez is not going anywhere

Even setting aside Inter's refusal, the player has been unusually direct about his intentions. He said in May that he expects to finish his career at the San Siro.

"No doubt I would like to retire at this club. It's hard for me to imagine myself anywhere else these days. You never know in football but if they don't kick me out, I'm staying here."

• Lautaro Martinez

He also confirmed on Wednesday that Barcelona's interest, reported before they signed Jesus instead, had been genuine.

"The rumours were true. But in the end, I wanted to stay here with my teammates, with these people, with these fans who have always been magnificent to me."

• Lautaro Martinez, speaking to Sky Sport Italy

His explanation was domestic rather than tactical.

"Now I'm in a city that has supported me incredibly since day one. I have a restaurant, my kids go to school. I'll always be here because I feel good, because I'm happy."

• Lautaro Martinez

And then a line that sounds like flattery until you read it twice.

"You never know when it comes to football. As long as they want me, those who are needed at Inter will be here. Of course, as I always say, it happens in every job. When you're no longer needed, they eventually send you away. But right now I'm here with all my heart, just like I was on day one."

• Lautaro Martinez

Twenty-two goals in 41 appearances in a title-winning season is not the profile of a player about to be told he is no longer needed.

The window Arsenal will be judged on

Deadline day traffic went elsewhere. Chelsea sold Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City. Arsenal ended the window as champions who strengthened least in the area they weakened most.

That may not matter. Their start to the title defence has been comfortable, and Gyokeres and Havertz between them can carry a season if both stay fit. The phrase doing the work there is if both stay fit, and it is the reason the phone calls happened at all.

Key facts at a glance

• Arsenal knew the Alvarez deal was finished the weekend before deadline day, per the Daily Mail.
• Gabriel Heinze contacted Lautaro Martinez directly early last week; Inter refused to discuss a sale.
• Martinez is valued at about €85m (£73m) with three years left on his contract.
• He scored 22 goals in 41 games as Inter won the Scudetto last season.
• Arsenal's only significant attacking addition was Christos Tzolis, after losing Trossard, Jesus and, imminently, Martinelli.
• Martinez has publicly said he wants to retire at Inter and turned down Barcelona to stay.

Reporting via the Daily Mail. Martinez quotes via Sky Sport Italy. Featured image via Pexels.