Inter president reveals why Lautaro Martinez rejected Barcelona transfer | OneFootball

Despite their best efforts, Barcelona failed to secure the signing of a world class striker during the summer transfer window. Julian Alvarez was their leading target for the longest time, but once it became clear that Atletico Madrid were not prepared to sell to a direct rival, they pivoted to other options – and one of them was another Argentine: Lautaro Martinez.

Barcelona have a long-standing interest in Martinez, which is why it was no surprise that they turned towards him when Alvarez was no longer considered to be a realistic target. However, their luck was much the same with the Inter Milan man, as a deal was quickly moved on due to a number of reasons.

Inter were not prepared to sell their star player to Barcelona, while the man himself was also not prepared to move to Catalonia at this stage of his career, as confirmed (via MD) this week by the Nerazzurri’s president, Giuseppe Marotta.

“First of all, I must say that his behaviour was exemplary. He showed a great sense of belonging by refusing to negotiate with Barcelona. We had a meeting, but the conditions were not right to continue. In addition, as far as negotiations between clubs are concerned, it was impossible to reach an agreement, as Lautaro is a top-level player and we need him if we want to win titles.”

Martinez deal was never likely for Barcelona

Barcelona only started to seriously consider Martinez in August, and given there were only a matter of weeks to go until the summer transfer window closed, Inter were never going to open the deal to a deal for their prized player. However, it would have been disappointing to be rejected by the player himself too, although it didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Barcelona will surely try again to sign another striker in January. Alvarez will be on their list again, although it is unlikely that Martinez will be.