Premier League Rumors: Barca Reveals Alternative For Lautaro Martinez

Barcelona has its eyes set on Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan but there could be complications along the way. That would include the need to pay a hefty £96 million release clause which the Spanish champions may need to work on.

Barca may need to pull strings to come up with the money to get Martinez from Inter. They may need to sell some players. With the COVID-19 grounding play, most know how most teams are now cash-strapped and this could become a factor by the next transfer window as far as spending on key personnel.

The financial woes are for real. The first-team members agreed to a 70 percent pay cut as teams try to curb down expenses with no games ongoing. Other teams are doing the same, some resistant but left with not much of a choice, The Independent reported. Martinez is one of the hotly pursued players and there are several teams interested in the 22-year-old striker. That includes teams like Real Madrid aside from other unnamed top Premier League teams.

With tall odds facing them, Barcelona needs to do find alternatives. And it appears they are doing just that with Alexander Isak reportedly their looming alternative. He signed for Sociedad with Borussia Dortmund last summer but is a candidate to join Barca. He has been doing well this season, scoring 14 goals.

And while that makes sense, there is no concern about whether Isak would be open to leaving his team after just one season since moving over from Germany. According to Goal.com, there have already been talks between Barca and the Sweden international. As far as the buyout clause of Isak is concerned, Barca would have to settle a much lesser amount at €30m. That is a whole lot cheaper compared to the one required for Lautaro.

Barcelona is busy working on its players as they try to be productive planning for the future. In a previous post, Quique Setien cleared the air on the status of Ivan Rikitic, someone who seemed to be on the way out. Though the Croatian has been used sparingly, Setien says he prefers to keep the midfielder although the final decision on that will still depend on the 32-year-old footballer.