Barcelona and their chase of Lautaro Martinez may have taken a major tumble as Inter Milan have posted an ultimatum in front of them.
Inter Milan have performed exceptionally well in the Serie A over the last few months. Antonio Conte has played a major role in leading the Nerazzurri towards the top, but some world-class players like Romelu Lukaku, Diego Godin and Lautaro Martinez have played a crucial part as well. The latter has now attracted interest from Barcelona.
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Spain’s leading side is keen on signing a striker during the upcoming summer as Luis Suarez has practically reached the end of his career and will be phased out shortly. The Uruguay international has arguably been the world’s best striker since signing with the Catalans and thus, it is imperative that the club signs someone with equal potential at the very least.
Lautaro Martinez has had a cracking season with Inter Milan to follow up from last year’s Copa America and definitely matches the profile with regards to what Barca are looking at. The Argentina international has come up clutch several times for Antonio Conte’s side and just like Suarez, he promises to be a big-game player in the years to come.
Barcelona have been relentless and intrepid in their pursuit of the former Racing Club striker but Inter Milan, led by their chairman Steven Zhang have been unyielding with their stance. The club has vetoed several of the Blaugrana’s offers for swap deals in the past few months and has made it clear that they will only accept full cash.
Don Balon now claims that Steven Zhang has revised and made non-negotiable demands from the Catalans after consulting Antonio Conte, who insisted that Martinez remains an integral part of his plans. Inter Milan have come to a decision that they will not accept any player in a swap deal unless and until it is Lionel Messi, like they said before.
Moreover, Lautaro Martinez will only be allowed to leave the club should he or his agent officially request for a transfer and in such an occurrence, the La Liga giants would be referred to his release clause worth 111 million euros which is effective only until July 15, following which the Italians are in a position to make revised demands.
On the other hand, Barcelona have already started to look at alternatives to Lautaro Martinez with both of Arsenal’s strikers in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette being on their radar. Olivier Giroud could also be brought in given that he’s a free agent after June 30, but there are certainly better options than the Chelsea star.
Do you think Barca must instead sign Neymar and trust Antoine Griezmann to play as a striker?