Legendary Inter player Sandro Mazzola has shared his belief that Lautaro Martinez will end up staying with Inter despite ongoing media speculation.

The highly rated 22-year-old Argentine national team player has been heavily linked with a potential transfer to reigning Spanish champions Barcelona for some time now and many reports have suggested the player has an agreement in principle over personal terms with them.

“I think he will stay in the end,” Mazzola explained in an interview with Italian news outlet Sport-Lab.it.

The former Italian national team player, who spent the entirety of his playing career with Inter, also spoke on current Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo, who he advised Inter to sign when he was a youngster.

“I seen him play and he was incredible. I had went to watch another player and then I saw him. I managed to talk to him at the end of the match and I said to him, ‘Listen, would you come to Milan to play?’, he responded, ‘I don’t know, let’s see’. The next day I called him but he didn’t answer me.”

Mazzola spent a total of 17 years playing for Inter, during which time he made over 500 appearances across all competitions.

Upon his retirement, Mazzola spent a period as part of Inter’s management team and he also had a period as the club’s sporting director during the 1990s.