Manchester City 'Step Up Efforts' to Sign Inter's Lautaro Martinez

Manchester City have stepped up their pursuit of a new striker, with Inter's Lautaro Martinez their top target.

The Argentine enjoyed a scintaling campaign for the Nerazzurri, forming a solid strike partnership with Romelu Lukaku and racking up 19 goal involvements in 35 Serie A games.

Martinez seemed to have all but sealed a move to Barcelona earlier this summer, only for the Blaugrana to slam the breaks on the deal in June, citing financial uncertainty as the reason why.

With the Catalan giants seemingly out of the running for now, City have intensified their interest in the striker. According to the Sun, signing the 23-year-old is now Pep Guardiola's priority in the transfer window as they look to find a long term replacement for the legendary Sergio Aguero.

City's all-time record goalscorer has just one year left on his current deal and is expected to turn down the chance to extend his stay in Manchester in order to finish his career in Argentina.

Martinez would be available for the right price, and while the Citizens could afford to put their money into such a move, they would prefer to sell a few players beforehand in order to balance the books. They have already made two signings this summer, snapping up Nathan Ake from relegated Bournemouth as well as adding young Valencia winger Ferran Torres to their ranks.

Guardiola is not done yet either with the club heavily linked with a move for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. 90min learned that the centre-back was given permission to look for his next club by the Azzurri earlier this month.

That deal is likely to cost around £70m but City could face a late surge of competition for the player's services. Chelsea are strongly interested, although both Liverpool and Manchester United seem to be out of the reckoning.