Yesterday represented a watershed day for negotiations between Inter and Barcelona over Lautaro Martinez according to a report in today’s print edition of Italian daily newspaper Libero.
The highly rated 22-year-old striker’s €111 million release clause expired yesterday thus meaning that from today Inter can now demand what they like for the Argentine national team player.
Inter are not openly looking to sell Lautaro and are understood to be considering offering him a new and improved contract but it will not be as good as the contract that the player has agreed with Barcelona, which will see him earn in excess of €10 million a year.
The report explains that Barcelona have dodged paying a €61 million fine for their signing of Neymar from Santos a few years back and will thus be able to use funds they would have otherwise spent on the fine toward signings in the transfer market.
The Nerazzurri club do not want negotiations to drag on and have set a hypothetical deadline of August for Lautaro to be sold or to have found a replacement for him plus another striker, who could be Roma captain Edin Dzeko.
This season Lautaro, who is under contract until 2023, has made 37 appearances across all competitions to date, in which he has scored 17 goals and provided five assists.
