Barcelona are reportedly willing to hand a deal worth £16 million per year to sign Argentine international Lautaro Martinez in the summer.
If the report by Daily Star is to be believed, Barcelona are ready to take some definitive steps to land Argentine international Lautaro Martinez in the summer transfer window. The Catalan giants are prepared to offer a £16 million-a-year contract to the Inter Milan striker to tempt him to make the switch to Camp Nou.
Lautaro Martinez has taken his career to new heights since moving away from his homeland Argentina to join Inter Milan in the summer of 2018. Now in his second season with the Serie A club, the player is a mainstay in attack at San Siro and is enjoying quite a productive campaign.
In 31 appearances across all competitions, Martinez has a solid return of 16 goals and 4 assists, and has been the ideal strike partner for Romelu Lukaku. The Argentine international’s exploits though, do not bode well for the Nerazzurri in a way, as a number of clubs are casting admiring glances at him. In particular, Barcelona have been linked heavily with him.
As per widespread reports, Martinez is the priority target for Barcelona heading into the summer transfer window. In fact, the Blaugrana’s director of football Eric Abidal has even gone on to admit that the club are interested in the 22-year-old, and for good reason.
Luis Suarez has been a fine servant at Camp Nou for over a half-a-decade now. However, the Uruguayan is 33 now and is not getting any younger. In fact, his age is slowly starting to show in his game and the star striker is currently on the sidelines, with Barcelona likely to be without his services for much of the remainder of the season.
To that end, Martinez is a viable target for the Catalan giants to pursue, although they also appear to be keeping their options open, with Timo Werner named as a backup option recently. However, Barcelona now seem to be stepping up their interest in Martinez.
As per the report, Barcelona are offering a whopping £16 million-a-year deal to secure the services of the Argentine international. Daily Star, in fact, claim that Barcelona have already agreed the lucrative pay package with the player’s agent Beto Yaque.
Agreeing such a deal would see Martinez earn as much as last summer’s star signing, Antoine Griezmann. If these claims are indeed true, though, all that now remains for Barcelona is to reach an agreement with Inter Milan over a summer transfer.
Daily Star has suggested that Inter Milan are demanding around £133 million in exchange for their star striker. Barcelona, though, are hoping to get the fee reduced by offering one or more players in return. So far, the likes of Arthur, Carles Alena, Jean-Clair Todibo and Nelson Semedo have been mentioned and it remains to be seen if they can get the move over the line in the months to come.
