Barcelona want to sign Inter’s Lautaro Martinez in a bid to convince Inter linked club captain Lionel Messi to remain with the club according to a report in today’s print edition of Italian daily newspaper Tuttosport.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu hopes to reconcile relations with Messi and be elected as president again and believes that signing Lautaro would help him to do that.
Negotiations between the two clubs are however at a standstill. Although Barcelona failed to capitalise on the player’s €111 million release clause, which expired earlier on this month, the report explains that the Catalan side could make a move for him following the Champions League, when the transfer market is expected to come alive.
Lautaro is currently under contract with Inter until the end of the 2022/23 season and various reports in the media have stated that the Nerazzurri club are ready to give him a brand new deal with the club.