According to reports coming from Portugal, Arsenal are very close to making an offer for Jackson Martinez of Porto in order to sort out their striker situation. The question is – how much do you really think this team and manager are willing to spend in the middle of the season?
According to A Bola, the trigger for Arsenal starting to chase the Colombian striker a little bit more seriously than before was Martinez announcing he was a gunners fan as a child. It also has to do with his scoring rate since arriving in Portugal; In 44 league matches he has found the net 38 times, not to mention five more goals 10 Champions League matches, being especially known for his heading ability, scoring 11 headers in the Primeira Liga.
Arsenal were initially after Alvaro Morata of Real Madrid, trying to sign him on a loan, but that didn’t work out, so they turn their attention to Martinez. Despite Lukas Podolski coming back from injury, Arsenal are very short when it comes to backing up the fading Olivier Giroud. Podolski isn’t a striker, Theo Walcott is injured again and Nicklas Bendtner… well, he is who he is.
The part that makes less sense is the price Arsenal might be forced to pay for Martinez. Porto paid €8.8 million for him, but as we all know, when big clubs come to try and sign players from them the prices skyrocket. Estimations of a €40 million deal are being mentioned, with a third-side party also making money off this acquisition. But after already spending a similar sum on Mesut Ozil, much younger and more well known, is Wenger willing to spend the same kind of money on a player that’s less proven at the highest levels and might actually be a bench player?
As always, we won’t really know until January ends, as these things can take quite some time to complete. However, despite the strong suggestions from Portugal, the fact that Porto don’t usually sell players in the middle of the season and their high asking price make this transfer not so likely to happen.