Barcelona no closer to signing the Inter Milan striker.
What seemed like an inevitably for Barcelona has become anything but with the Catalan club making little headway in their efforts to sign Inter Milan striker, Lautaro Martinez.
According to Sport, the negotiations between the two sides has become “complicated” with the Italian side believing that Barcelona are not going to make a serious offer for the Argentine.
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Because of that, Inter Milan are preparing to offer him a contract extension to get him to stay.
The Catalan’s plan all along has been to include a couple of players in a potential deal as they are unable to pay the €111 million release clause.
However, none of the players they’ve offered have convinced Inter thus adding credence to their belief that they will not get a competitive offer for Martinez.
Earlier reports indicated that Barcelona had already agreed personal terms with the player. However, that means little until an agreement has been reached with Inter.
With all the uncertainty surrounding his signing at the moment, the only thing that is certain is Barcelona need to sign him and may have to pay more than what they budgeted for.
They’ve long needed a replacement for Luis Suarez and their 1-1 draw against Sevilla was further proof of that. It should come as no surprise as to why Inter are the ones in the driving seat and not the other way around.
A significant amount of money separates the two sides.
According to SempreInter, about €20 million separates the two sides from reaching an agreement. Barcelona so far have presented an offer of €70 million while Inter are seeking €90 million.
As mentioned earlier, Barça would like to include a player in a deal with that player being Junior Firpo. The Catalans value him at around €41 million but Inter value him at half that.
Should the club offer Firpo at Inter’s valuation, the report claims that they would then be willing to lower their asking price to €80 million.
Considering how badly Barcelona need a striker and that Timo Werner, another striker they were interested in, has gone and signed for Chelsea, the number of top-level strikers available is relatively thin.
Martinez wants to come but won’t push Inter’s hand. The ball is in Barça’s court and if they are serious about replacing Suarez, then they are going to have to give in to Inter’s demands.
They are in a bit of a predicament but it’s one of their own doing after years of poor squad planning.