By OkayGoal
Arsenal were scraping to bring attacking reinforcements at London Colney before the window slammed shut. And that push to sign a new forward apparently extended further than anyone realised with reports now confirming that the Gunners made a genuine attempt to sign World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez, only to be given short shrift by Inter Milan.
Arsenal tried to explore Lautaro Martinez transfer
According to Isaan Khan, it was assistant manager Gabriel Heinze who reached out to Inter early last week over a potential deal but the Italian giants refused to entertain any conversation whatsoever, whether that involved Arsenal or anyone else knocking on their door.
Insider afcxcl has since added further colour to the story, revealing that Lautaro Martinez himself was said to be entirely open to a move to the Emirates stadium and that Inter had already knocked back proposals from Saudi Arabia and Barcelona before the North Londoners enquiry even entered the picture for the 29-year-old.
he was open to arsenal as well. #inter said no to many proposals from saudi / barcelona and arsenal. must say i wasn’t educated on us making an enquiry for him but after studying the information, he was 100% open; worse then havertz and gyok tho. https://t.co/s54lP8xfMP
— 🏴 (@franchisexcl) September 2, 2026
Even the source admitted being caught slightly off guard by news of Arsenal’s interest, which tells you how quietly this one was being explored by Arsenal behind the scenes.
It is a fascinating little subplot to emerge from what was already a chaotic end to the window.
Now it comes to winter for the Gunners
With the Alvarez pursuit dragging on and Osimhen’s wage demands proving a stumbling block, it looked like Arteta and his recruitment staff were working every possible angle in the background including a move for one of world football’s most complete forwards, even if the chances of pulling it off were always going to be slim.
Inter’s stance for his signing should come as no great surprise. Martinez remains an integral part of their plans, a proven goalscorer at the very highest level, and the sort of player clubs simply do not sell midway through preparing for another title challenge of their own, regardless of how tempting the numbers on the table might be.
Now the Gunners will head into the season without another player coming in this summer and with a possibility that Berta & Co will explore a move for a new forward when winter comes around.