- Inter and Barça have begun negotiations on a potential summer swap deal
- Martínez poor form sees his valuation drastically drop from the €70m
- Barça continue to operate on a limited transfer budget due to their €1 Billion debt
Barcelona is set to revisit the signing of Lautaro Martínez this summer, a player they came so close to signing two years ago before the pandemic decimated their finances.
Sign up for FREE daily updates
Sign up for FREE daily updates
This season’s poor form would suggest a reduced transfer fee for the Argentinian, who turned down a €70 million transfer to Arsenal the previous summer. Much of Inter‘s failings this season have been pointed at Martínez failure to form a similar partnership with Dzeko to that of Lukaku’s during their scudetto exploits of last season.
Sources in Spain suggest Inter’s interested Depay and Pjanic could make the deal easier to negotiate for Barcelona with a potential swap deal likely to be discussed.
With the weight of €1 billion debt still hanging over the club, signings such as Martínez will be the norm for the Catalan outfit for the foreseeable future. Attracting the likes of Haaland and Mbappe this summer is by Laporte’s own admission beyond the means of the club when speaking with TV3 on Sunday:
“We’re working on the future of the squad. Both [director of football] Mateu Alemany and [advisor] Jordi Cruyff are also looking for a certain rationality.”
“We are here to manage a football club well. We are in a period that, although we are improving economically, it has not yet been solved.”
“The economic situation has not been reversed and that is the priority.”
“It is clear that we want an increasingly powerful team. We will go all out, but we will not do any operation that puts the institution at risk.“
Martinez enjoyed a productive 2020-21 season, finding the net 19 times and laying on 11 assists for his team mates. Maybe a move to the Nou Camp could well regalvanize the Argentinians form with “Xavi Ball” now starting to reap rewards.
