Barcelona Makes Last-Ditch Attempt To Lure Martinez, Take Place Of Suarez

FC Barcelona is in a pretty messy state but it appears their previous target is still on the radar. Lautaro Martinez is one of the players heavily linked to a move to Camp Nou but Inter Milan branded him as untransferrable. Regardless, Barca is still not waving the white flag.

According to Goal, Blaugrana is working on a final offer to land the Argentine striker. The move is meant to test how Inter is determined to keep Martinez. On their end, Barcelona is prepping to fill in a void that will be vacated by Luis Suarez.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Uruguayan was informed by new manager Ronald Koeman that he is not part of his plans for Camp Nou. He was advised to search for a new club and it appears that the team will be Juventus FC.

In the case of Martinez, Barcelona has nothing to lose by trying to pitch another offer for Martinez. In another previous report, it was mentioned how Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio stressed that they were bent on keeping the 23-year-old player.

Ausilio confirmed as well that Barca did approach them but talks never prospered. But all this happened before the shakeup happened at Camp Nou. It appears Koeman wants to pursue those plans but faces a tall order trying to convince Nerazzurri to release the Argentine striker.

But before these plans gain any ground, Barca needs to settle the Suarez issue. Though he is seen to be moving to Juventus soon, there are things that Koeman needs to iron out. The 33-year-old has one year left in his contract which includes an automatic renewal for another year if he is to be used in 60% of matches.

The good news for Barca is that Suarez is willing to sit down and negotiate his exit. He is due roughly $16.5 million and a buyout is unlikely to happen. With Suarez nearing the finalization stages of moving to Juventus, negotiating that contract price looms as the best option for both parties.

Martinez is a viable replacement for Suarez and will cost them a whole lot less annually. But unless Blaugrana can come up with an offer that Inter would find hard to refuse, the success-rate of their final pitch is not looking so great.