Inter Milan Reject $82M Bids For Star Forward After Agreeing To Deal For Lukaku: Report

Inter Milan have reportedly rejected bids worth $82 million for Lautaro Martinez from Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid in the 2021 summer window.

With Romelu Lukaku close to signing with Chelsea, Inter Milan do not want to lose two crucial strikers together. Moreover, Inter Milan, who are currently undergoing a financial crisis, have labeled Argentina national Martinez at $106 million, reported Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio on his official website.

Lukaku, who helped Inter Milan win the Serie A title last season, is close to returning to Stamford Bridge, where he had started his Premier League career back in 2011.

It was earlier reported that after Inter Milan turned down Chelsea's initial bid for Lukaku, the Champions League winners returned with a much bigger offer, believed to be around $154 million. Chelsea are in the market to sign a prolific striker and had made Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland as their primary target. After the German club made it clear that Haaland was staying at Signal Iduna Park, Chelsea made Lukaku their alternate target.

While Chelsea and Inter Milan are doing the paperwork for Lukaku's departure to London, Inter Milan will officially make the announcement only once they sign Lukaku's replacement, according to soccer website sempreinter.com.

Lukaku and Martinez were Inter Milan's top two players in the 2020-21 campaign, scoring 30 and 19 goals respectively.

Negotiations regarding an extension are currently stalled between Inter Milan and Martinez, who has just two years left on his deal with the San Siro side. Amid the links with clubs such as Spurs and Atletico, the player's agent Alejandro Camanohas made it very clear that Martinez is "happy" at Inter Milan and wants to stay.

"Lautaro Martinez is happy at Inter and in Italy. His decision is to stay. The relationship with Inter is perfect. Lautaro Martinez is quiet. Yes, it is true that there were offers (the last one is that of Tottenham, ed), but today he is fine and we will sit down to talk about the future,” Camano was quoted by Inter News, as saying in a recent interview.

Martinez recently won the Copa America with Lionel Messi-led Argentina. He netted three goals in six appearances as Argentina defeated Brazil in the final to claim their 14th Copa America title.