President of Argentine club Racing, Victor Blanco, discussed his former player, Inter striker Lautaro Martinez and the rumours linking him to Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid in an interview with Argentine newspaper El Intransigente today.

“We negotiated very well. We have a 10% percentage for sales above 14 million euros. When we sold him to Inter, we gave up two and a half million euros to keep the percentage on future resale. In other times we would have cashed everything and immediately.”

Blanco then highlighted how the rumours linking the player to Barcelona and Real Madrid are true.

“We gave up this fee knowing that sooner or later this capital gain would come for Racing. And the rumours about Real and Barcelona are true.”

The 22-year-old Argentine striker, who is contracted to the Nerazzurri until 2023, has scored 16 goals and provided four assists in 30 appearances across all competitions so far this season for the Milan based club, providing a goal contribution every 117 minutes. His strong form under coach Antonio Conte has seen many admirers come out of the woodwork, with none keener than Barcelona, who are looking for a replacement for the aging star Luis Suarez.

Lautaro has a release clause of €111 million, valid in the first two weeks of July, but Barcelona aren’t prepared to pay the fee in full. Instead, they’d rather pay a higher fee, like €150 million, over multiple instalments. No agreement has been reached yet, with the Nerazzurri instead focusing on the league.