Midfielder Nicolo Barella is closer to extending his contract with Inter Milan than Nerazzurri captain Lautaro Martinez is.
This according to Italian news outlet Gazzetta.it. The Gazzetta anticipates that the 27-year-old is ready to sign a new deal until the end of June 2028 or 2029.
Inter have made locking down the futures of a number of key players in their squad a priority.
The Nerazzurri have already seen Alessandro Bastoni, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Federico Dimarco commit their futures by signing new deals in the last twelve months.
And the two big priorities for 2024 are Barella and Martinez.
As the Gazzetta note, Inter have been in talks with the representatives of both players for some time now.
The Nerazzurri expect that they will be able to secure agreements sooner or later. But the timeline for the two sets of negotiations isn’t quite clear.
In the case of Martinez, it had looked as though the Argentine would be the next in line for a big contract extension.
There had even been an expectation that Martinez’s extension could be made official in January.
But things have stalled a bit in those talks. Martinez’s agent made clear in a statement that there is no agreement yet, and heavily hinted that the issue is that Inter’s offer isn’t high enough yet.
Therefore, there is still work for Inter to do in talks with the 26-year-old.
Nicolo Barella Closer To Signing Inter Contract Extension Than Lautaro Martinez
On the other hand, the Gazzetta report, negotiations with Barella are rapidly heading in the right direction.
So much so, in fact, that the former Cagliari midfielder will likely put pen to paper before Martinez does.
Unlike with the captain Martinez, there is no real distance between the vice-captain’s demands and Inter’s offer.
The Nerazzurri are ready to offer Barella wages of €6 million net per season plus add-ons. For the player, that is sufficient.
And considering Barella has made clear that he only wants to stay at Inter, the negotiations have been quite straightforward.
Therefore, the official announcement could very well arrive in the spring.
Inter will extend Barella’s contract until the end of June 2028, or even June 2029.
