Arsenal and Liverpool Could Shell Out £40m for Jackson Martinez

Arsenal and Liverpool have been handed a £40m price tag for securing the services of Porto striker Jackson Martinez, according to the Daily Express.

The forward has been in brilliant form over the years and has attracted interest from a lot of clubs in the Premier League, but has never translated into a transfer. The duo were interested in the player in the summer but a severe hamstring injury had kept him out of action for a while, raising doubts over his fitness in the upcoming season.

However, the striker has quelled doubts over his fitness thus far scoring seven goals in 13 appearances for club and country and will be a no-brainer for either club who are looking to challenge for the title.

Arsenal currently have Olivier Giroud, Yaya Sanogo and Danny Welbeck to start up front while Lukas Podolski, Alexis Sanchez, Joel Campbell and Theo Walcott can all contribute in the forward line. However, Podolski's future at Arsenal is on the balance with the player insistent on more game time.

Joel Campbell's future is also going down the same lines, with the Costa Rican not starting a single game so far and has only been accredited with a few substitute appearances.

Arsenal's injury record means that there will be space for Martinez to get into the first team more often than not and his proud record of 139 goals in 236 appearances will be hard to better by anyone currently available in the market.

Liverpool's need for a striker is more pressing than the Gunners, especially with Mario Balotelli failing to live up to expectations and Rickie Lambert unable to reproduce his form during his time at Southampton. Luis Suarez's departure and the absence of Daniel Sturridge due to injury has dried up goals for Brendan Rodgers who need some ammunition in January if they have to retain their position in the top four.