Arsenal ‘have Lautaro Martinez contract prepared’ as Edu scrambles after Brentford loss

Arteta apologises to Arsenal fans after defeat at Brentford

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Arsenal have a big contract for Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez prepared, according to reports. Mikel Arteta and Edu are eager to land the Argentina international before the transfer window shuts on August 31. And their need for a new forward was evident as they lost 2-0 to Brentford in their Premier League opener on Friday night.

Arsenal have signed three players so far this summer.

Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares joined from Anderlecht and Benfica respectively, while Ben White moved from Brighton for £50million.

However, despite those acquisitions, Arsenal started their campaign poorly by losing to Brentford in their opening league fixture of the new campaign.

Sergio Canos put the hosts in front in the 22nd minute, beating Bernd Leno with an effort from the edge of the area.

And Christian Norgaard then capitalised on some woeful Gunners defending to make the game safe, nodding home with 17 minutes left on the clock.

Now, in the aftermath of that result, Arsenal are aiming to bolster their squad.

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And Sport Mediaset claim they’ve prepared a massive contract offer to Martinez, who is currently the club’s priority transfer target.

Arsenal, it’s said, are willing to pay the Inter Milan star close to £14.5m a year in order to bring him to the Emirates Stadium.

That would make him one of the best-paid players at the club, on a weekly salary in the region of £280,000-a-week.

At the moment, Tottenham are also in the mix to sign Martinez – regardless of whether or not Harry Kane moves to Manchester City.

But Arsenal now appear primed to hijack their fierce rivals, with Edu scrambling in the wake of Friday night’s chastening defeat.

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Speaking after the display, Arteta admitted that his side didn’t deserve to win the match – congratulating Brentford on their victory.

“Congratulations to Brentford. I don’t want to use any excuses,” he said.

“It’s a very disappointing night.

“We needed to start in a very different way. The performance in the two halves was different.

“In the first half, we had periods where we weren’t ourselves. We got in trouble pretty easily in different ways with the long balls and the second balls. We were very disappointed with that.

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“We reacted in the second half after going 1-0 down, when the crowd was right behind them.

“We created a lot of situations but not enough threat or shots on target to win a football match.

“When you concede a goal on a long throw, it then becomes a big task. Congratulations to Brentford on what they did, on what they’ve done to be where they are and for the fantastic crowd that they have right behind the team.”

Arsenal icon Ian Wright, meanwhile, labelled the result ‘embarrassing’.

“For Arsenal fans watching that it’s embarrassing for us, embarrassing for us,” Wright said.

“They didn’t compete and they don’t look any better than they were last season.

“I think Ben White did well against Ivan Toney tonight. Kieran Tierney, you’re always going to get that from him.

“There’s more players to come, there’s 18 days left in the transfer market and they’re going to need to do something.

“If you’re going to play against a promoted team and you’re not going to at least match them for endeavour and intensity then its going to be a long season for arsenal, it’s worrying.”

Arsenal are next in action against Chelsea on Sunday.

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