Former Barcelona and Argentine national team manager Cesar Luis Menotti has sang the praises of Inter striker Lautaro Martinez, who continues to be linked with a move to Barcelona.
As per various reports doing the rounds in both Italian and Spanish media, Barcelona are very keen on adding the highly rated 22-year-old to their ranks and are looking to do a player(s) plus cash deal for him.
“He was already a top player at Racing Club. Javier Zanetti followed him and brought him to Inter. He has power, character and a lot of personality,” he explained in an interview with Argentine newspaper Diario Popular.
“He also has a good relationship with Lionel Messi in the national team. Lautaro is a serious boy who knows how to move both in and out of the box.
“When he is on the pitch, you can see that he grew up on the streets of Bahia Blanca. He is very determined, courageous, technical and fast. In short, he is an excellent player.”
Menotti then went on to discuss comparisons that have been made between Lautaro and legendary former Argentine international Gabriel ‘Batigol’ Batistuta.
“He is different from Gabriel Batistuta in terms of his characteristics. He can start up top and he can act as a second striker.”
Menotti, who was in charge of Barcelona between 1983 and 1984, then went on to speak about how he thinks Lautaro could get on alongside current Barcelona striker Luis Suarez.
“I think he can be a complement to Luis Suárez, because he plays for the team, he is generous and is not vain. I do not think he would suffer from any major problems adapting to Barcelona like Antoine Griezmann did.”
He concluded by giving a word of warning to Lautaro when it comes to how different things would be for him at Barcelona compared to Inter.
“Barcelona is not Inter. Inter play on the counterattack and there he is lethal. In Barcelona the ideas are different but I have trust in his personality and his qualities, which are not lacking.”
This season Lautaro, who has a contract with Inter until 2023, has made 31 appearances across all competitions to date, in which he has scored 16 goals and provided four assists.
