Lautaro Martinez's Decision Shows How Badly He Wants To Join Lionel Messi At Barca: Report

Lautaro Martinez reportedly has agreed to wait for another 12 months to relish his Barcelona dream and this decision is definitely good news for the Catalans ahead of the summer transfer window.

Martinez, who scored 18 goals in 41 competitive games this season, has been a key player in Inter Milan’s squad since he joined them in 2018. Courtesy of his impressive run with the Serie A side, Martinez has attracted interest from several top European clubs including Manchester City.

While Barcelona cannot afford Martinez’s release clause of $128 million at Inter Milan at the moment, Man City have the resources to sign him, provided the player changes his mind before the end of the upcoming transfer window. City are believed to have identified Martinez as a long-term replacement for aging Sergio Aguero and, on the other hand, Barcelona want the Argentinian to fill in the shoes of Uruguay’s Luis Suarez.

If Barcelona failed to win the UEFA Champions League this season, it will be for the first time in six years that Messi and Co. will go an entire season without a trophy. There have also been rumors regarding Messi’s future at the club as the player has expressed losing faith in the board as he is unhappy with the way the club is being run. Things have been so sour at Barcelona that Messi earlier this season also suggested the current Barcelona team is not good enough to win the Champions League.

Before the coronavirus pandemic struck the world, Barcelona had an easy solution to revive Messi’s stay at the club: all they had to do was sign Martinez and Neymar as the two forwards have been their top targets ahead of the summer market and both are wanted by the skipper. However, due to the financial crisis infused by the deadly virus, the Catalans cannot afford the players.

According to Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport, the 22-year-old striker Martinez will reject any offer from Man City and has decided to wait until the start of the 2021-22 season as he is still hopeful of moving to Spain where he would unite with his Argentina national team’s captain Messi.

Martinez, who made his professional debut in 2015, has so far scored a total of 54 goals in 136 competitive matches.