Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has backed his former club to pursue a move for Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez this summer.

The Argentinian international has been in excellent form this season, scoring 27 times in all competitions, and Parlour believes Gunners technical director Edu should consider making a bid for the player:

“Bringing in Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan would also be perfect, he’s the sort of striker Arsenal need to sign. I know Gabriel Jesus has been excellent this season, he had that long spell out injured, but he needs to score a few more goals for Arsenal.”

“Eddie Nketiah has done well when he’s been asked, but you need that competition up front for places. We played with four top strikers in the Invincibles team – Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord. We even had Francis Jeffers a little before that, so we had five strikers!”

“So Arsenal definitely need another striker. Any player in the mould of Lautaro Martinez, if he’s interested in coming to Arsenal, then Edu will be working to do the best deal for the club.”

Martinez has been linked with moves to the Premier League in the past, with the likes of Tottenham and Chelsea having also been credited with an interest in the striker.

Whether the 25-year-old will be a priority target for Arsenal, though, it is doubtful. Trusted journalist David Ornstein has already played down the prospect of a new number nine or a winger being signed.

Who are Arsenal likely to buy instead?

The Gunners are thought to be focused on strengthening their options in midfield and defence. West Ham’s Declan Rice, Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan and Chelsea’s Mason Mount appear to be among their targets to reinforce the middle of the pitch.

In terms of the backline, it looks as though the London club are preparing for a significant overhaul, with right-backs, centre-backs and left-backs all being tracked.

RB Leipzig’s Mohamed Simakan and Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba are two of the centre-halves most recently linked, while Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo is also on Arsenal’s radar.