Barcelona’s pursuit of Lautaro Martinez plummets on a downward roll

MILAN, ITALY - DECEMBER 10: Lautaro Martinez of FC Internazionale looks dejected during the UEFA Champions League group F match between FC Internazionale and FC Barcelona at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on December 10, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
MILAN, ITALY - DECEMBER 10: Lautaro Martinez of FC Internazionale looks dejected during the UEFA Champions League group F match between FC Internazionale and FC Barcelona at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on December 10, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona may lose out on Lautaro Martinez’s signing after several factors have led to them potentially finding themselves against the odds.

Barcelona are relentless in their pursuit of two key players ahead of next season, Lautaro Martinez and Neymar. The duo will be absolutely vital to the club’s future considering that Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are both ageing, but the Bartomeu and his allies are thinking of making the moves in order to be in contention for next year’s general elections.

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Josep Maria Bartomeu has not received much positive feedback over his tenure at the club’s forefront and that’s something which is derailing him from being a favourite ahead of next year. That being said, the president has been criticized for being more of a business-minded personality instead of someone who knows the bread and butter of football.

Bartomeu has been rightly slandered however, since Barcelona have endured some of their most inconsistent and low moments under his overlooking. Moreover, the club’s finances have been used irrationally as has been visible with the contrasting input and output obtained from Ousmane Dembele as well as Philippe Coutinho.

Currently, the Blaugrana have resorted to slacking their players’ wages and are not in a great financial state after the suspension of sport-related activities since the last few weeks. As a result, signing both Martinez and Neymar is certainly going to be beyond the club’s monetary leverage, meaning that they’ll have to focus on just one of the two.

Diario GOL claims that the Catalans have made Lautaro Martinez their primary target after being fazed by Neymar’s price tag in spite of pressure from Lionel Messi. But as things may turn out, their transfer for the Argentina international may be hindered by several factors, with rival interest and finances being the root.

Inter Milan have flatly rejected any swap deal from Barca, thereby making it clear that they will only accept full cash and not hear any offer below his release clause’s value of 111 million euros. Barca, who are struggling to sell Coutinho and Dembele, will most probably be unable to pay that sum without offering a player or two in exchange.

Real Madrid are also thought to have vested interest in the Inter forward after seeing Luka Jovic failing in his first season. The situation at Spain’s capital in terms of finances is as stable as it could be, so Florentino Perez can afford to break the bank for a couple of signings this summer. Inter are interested in only money and they’ve made that clear, and sadly it doesn’t look good for Barca.

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Do you see Lautaro Martinez and Neymar both become Barca’s transfer failures this summer?