According to a report by reliable Man City correspondent Sam Lee in the Athletic, director of football Txiki Begiristain and the club opted against paying a bargain £25 million fee to sign Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez back in 2018 – and the transfer fumble has potentially cost us a worthy heir to Sergio Aguero.
In recent weeks, the Sky Blues have been linked with a host of top names as manager Pep Guardiola plots a major summer overhaul in time for next campaign.
Did Begiristain make a huge mistake not signing Martinez for Man City?
Yes, missed out on paying pennies for Aguero's heir
No, Jesus has proved he can fill Aguero's shoes
The likes of Martinez, David Alaba and Diego Carlos are being continuously touted with a move to the Etihad whilst Nathan Ake is reportedly on the verge of completing a City deal.
Indeed, having already completed the signing of Valencia winger Ferran Torres for a meagre £20.87m, it’s shaping up to be an exciting summer window for supporters – but the fact we could have got Martinez for a similar figure back in 2018 should be cause for self reflection.
Why didn’t we snap up the Argentine?
Lee, writing in a transfer roundup for the Athletic, claims that City weren’t willing to shell out £25m to land Martinez who is worth quadruple that figure in today’s market.
Having scored 14 Serie A goals in 29 starts under Antonio Conte this season, his proficiency isn’t exactly up there with the likes of Aguero, Sterling or even Jesus this season in all competitions – but his attacking threat is evident.
According to WhoScored, at just 22-years-old, he averages 3.6 shots per 90 in the league – more than any Sky Blues attacker has managed over 2019/2020.
A huge mistake?
Having been linked with an Etihad move ‘sporadically‘, reports suggest that we haven’t taken our eye off Martinez’ development and could still sign the forward – but Inter currently value his services at around £98.8 million.
Indeed, we could have snapped up a striker dubbed ‘the next Aguero‘ for a quarter of that price, and that alone should weigh on Begiristain’s mind.
Despite being criticised for his wastefulness in front of goal last season, he has definitely improved on that this campaign, and now City are left ruing what could have been a bargain fee for a world class attacking talent.