Former Inter striker responsible for Barcelona failing to sign Lautaro Martinez

Barcelona were close to signing Lautaro Martinez in the summer after letting go of veteran striker, Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan was deemed to be too old to be playing in the top level of football by Ronald Koeman and the club wanted a younger player with more passion and thus they choose Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.

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However, the Catalans could not sign the super striker due to the pandemic causing them monetary problems. Although Barcelona fans wanted to see the Argentine striker link up with Lionel Messi, and the player himself was disappointed as he wanted to join the club, former Inter striker, Hernan Crespo, was delighted by the news.

Legendary striker Crespo, who boasts over 240 goals in his club career, apparently told his compatriot, Martinez to not leave Inter for Barcelona. In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, revealed to the public that he was one of the main reasons as to why the Italian striker did not join the Catalan side, and he is very proud that Martinez took his advice. He said in the interview,

"“I have known Lautaro for a long time, this summer I advised him not to accept the offers of Barcelona and not to leave Inter and in the end I got it right,”Source Mundo Deportivo"

This was a brutal blow for the Spanish giants as without Martinez, they were left without a striker. They had Martin Braithwaite of course but he was not up to the mark according to Koeman. After the failure to sign the Inter striker, the Dutch manager tried to bring in one of the players he was familiar with from the Netherlands national team.

The player he tried to bring in was Memphis Depay and the plan was to sell Ousmane Dembele to afford the Dutch winger. However, Dembele refused to leave the club and thus they were stuck with Braithwaite. Koeman is still hoping to sign Depay who’s contract finishes at the end of this season.

However, the former Everton manager must now also think about bringing in someone to replace their most valued asset, Lionel Messi. Should the Barcelona board be unable to make transfers next season, they could be without a striker, a replacement for Messi, and a replacement for Gerard Pique. The new president who will be elected on March 7th should look into these matters as things are critical at the club at the moment.

Should Barca reignite their interest in Lautaro?