‘Outstanding’: Joe Cole says 25-year-old Tottenham reportedly want to buy is like Luis Suarez in his prime

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Joe Cole spoke about reported Tottenham target Lautaro Martinez before he got his World Cup campaign underway.

At 9.37am on ITV’s coverage of Argentina’s match with Saudi Arabia, Cole praised the Inter Milan 25-year-old frontman.

Cole said Argentina were his favourites to lift the trophy but their tournament got off to the worst possible start, with a shock 2-1 defeat.

Lionel Messi’s penalty put Argentina in front, but Martinez had two first half goals disallowed for offside before the minnows turned it around after the interval.

Cole on Martinez

Before the game, Cole and his fellow pundits were full of praise and hope for Argentina, and he compared Martinez with Luis Suarez in his prime.

He said: “This is the best Argentina team I’ve seen for at least 15 years. Martinez is so good for Messi because he does the work of two men.

“He’s like prime Suarez, running the channels. Messi would go and spend a spell on the right, then ghost into the ten and plays on instinct. Outstanding.”

InterLive.it believe Spurs want to sign the Argentinian next summer, and Antonio Conte has worked with the 25-year-old before.

Martinez was one of Tottenham’s top targets this summer as well, but a move never materialised, with Harry Kane still the main man at Spurs.

Now, he will be focused on getting Argentina’s World Cup bid back on track, after suffering one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.