Inter Milan are not going to make the negotiations with Barcelona for Lautaro Martinez easy.
If Barcelona thought they were going to have an easy time negotiating with Inter Milan for Lautaro Martinez, they have another thing coming.
The Catalans prepared an offer to gauge how it would be perceived. Their initial offer consisted of a €70 million fee and the inclusion of Arturo Vidal and Nelson Semedo. But, apparently, that is not going to be enough.
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According to Mundo Deportivo, Inter are willing to sell Lautaro Martinez if they include three players of which none are Vidal or Semedo.
The Nerazurri want Arthur Melo, Carles Aleña and Jean-Clair Todibo in exchange for their striker.
Inter know how desperate Barca are to find a replacement for Luis Suarez so it makes sense why their opening gambit would be so substantial.
But it seems unlikely that Barça would agree to such a proposal.
Both Arthur Melo and Carles Aleña are players the club count on for the future. At 23 and 22, respectively, they are looked at as anchors in the midfield for years to come.
Despite the Brazilian dealing with injuries and the La Masia product on loan at Betis, their future is still at the Camp Nou.
Todibo, on the other hand, is a different story. The French defender was loaned out to Schalke 04 with the German club given a reasonable price on an option to buy. If they don’t make the move permanent, he could enter a deal but his future right now does not depend on Barcelona.
Inter must have known that the Catalans would never go for such a deal but are using it to gauge their interest. They value Martinez highly as well and want to get the most out of they can from him.This is why it’s always complicated when player swaps are introduced in potentially lucrative deals.
All this could be avoided if Barcelona simply paid the Argentine’s release clause. Given the state of their finances, that seems like a remote possibility. Therefore, if a transfer does get done, expect negotiations to take a while with plenty of back-and-forth between them.