Lautaro Martínez confirms that he was very close to a move to Barcelona last summer. The 23-year-old attacker of Internazionale saw the transfer ricochet at the last minute due to the major financial problems at Barça. Martínez thus stayed with Internazionale and goes according to la Gazzetta dello Sport soon to discuss the extension of his contract with the club management.
Last summer, protracted rumors about Barcelona’s interest in Martínez. At the last minute, the Catalans declined to pay the € 111 million escape clause in the Argentinian’s contract. “I was really close to Barcelona and I already spoke to Lionel Messi about it,” said the attacker in conversation with the Argentine branch of ESPN.
Martínez is afterwards happy that the transfer did not take place. “It turned out to be the right decision, as we became champions with Inter this season. It’s just incredible to win the Scudetto at such an important club,” said the South American, who could have gone to Spain before. “Real Madrid wanted to get me twice when I was still in the youth of Racing, but I wanted to break through in Argentina first and only went to Europe when I was ready.” That happened in 2018, when Internazionale transferred 25 million euros to Racing for Martínez.
The center forward played an important role in Internazionale’s championship this season, scoring 15 times in 34 league appearances and delivering 8 assists. Martínez is still two years stuck with Inter, which is eager to extend his contract. The striker recently broke with his agent, who had already reached an outline agreement with the club about a new agreement. In this, Martínez would add one year and the escape clause would disappear. Inter goes according to la Gazzetta dello Sport soon to talk to Alejandro Camano, Martínez’s new agent, to reach a similar agreement.
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