Lautaro Martinez helped Inter Milan reach the finals of the Europa League last season (Getty Images)
According to Goal (h/t Daily Mail), Barcelona are planning to make another move for Inter Milan star Lautaro Martinez ahead of the new campaign.
The report suggests that the Catalan giants are looking for a squad overhaul and have identified Martinez to spearhead their attack. It is also claimed that new boss Ronald Koeman has made it clear that Luis Suarez is not in his plans for the next season to lead the attack.
Born in Argentina, Martinez started his journey with Bahia Blanca before rising through the ranks of Racing Club’s youth system. He made his senior bow in the 2016/17 season and racked up 27 goals in 59 appearances for the Argentine outfit before joining Inter Milan in the summer of 2018.
Though he didn’t enjoy a lot of success in his first season in Italy, Martinez went on to score 21 goals last time out, helping his side reach the finals of the Europa League.
Inter also finished just one point behind Juventus in Serie A as they were benefited from the strike partnership of Martinez and Romelu Lukaku
Barcelona endured a torrid 2019/20 campaign where they failed to win a single trophy. They finished behind Real Madrid in the league despite staying at the top of the table for the majority of the campaign and were also humiliated by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
With Luis Suarez out of Koeman’s plans for next season, the Blaugranas will be left with just one natural center-forward in their ranks – Martin Braithwaite. However, he was not at his best whenever he was handed the opportunities last term. Antoine Griezmann also failed to live up to the expectations in his first season at Camp Nou.
Thus, an interest in Martinez is understandable. The Argentine showed great potential last season, helping Inter challenge for the league title as well as in the Europa League. With experience, he should only get better. Moreover, he is just 23 and can go on to lead their attack in the future.
Martinez’s inclusion would add firepower to Barcelona’s attack and can be seen as a replacement for Suarez if he is able to continue with the fine form from last season. Moreover, he still has a lot of room for development and should be able to develop himself under the guidance of Koeman.
Barcelona are at a point where they need to bring in youngsters and rebuild the squad. With Suarez’s future uncertain, it is clear that they are in dire need of young blood upfront and Martinez perfectly suits the bill. Thus, they must attempt to lure the Argentine to Camp Nou this summer.
