Lautaro Martínez still follows Racing, on Milito: «We’re friends» | OneFootball

Argentina national team and Inter Milan player Lautaro Martínez said he still follows Racing, the club where he developed, as well as his Albiceleste teammate Leandro Paredes. He also revealed that he has a friendship with Diego Milito, the current president of the Academia, with whom he crossed paths early in his career.

“I follow Racing. Milito was with me not long ago, and I have a friendship with the president. Sometimes the matches are late, but whenever I can I follow them and I speak with Diego regularly,” he recently revealed in an interview with ESPN.

The comments come after the Toro was crowned Serie A champion with the Nerazzurri and amid the footballing crisis affecting the Avellaneda side, which has now gone seven matches without a win, leading fans to insult the club’s leadership headed by the Prince.

The Toro and Milito, both Inter idols, were briefly together at Racing when the current Argentina striker was taking his first steps and the man who is now an executive was nearing retirement. Lautaro made his first-team debut for the Academia in October 2015, in a 3-0 thrashing of Crucero del Norte, when he came on for the Prince. Their friendship is such that they have met several times recently and even joked about Martínez returning to the Argentine club in the near future.

At the same time, the Toro was also asked about Paredes, Boca’s midfielder and the teammate with whom he won the World Cup in Qatar. “Do I follow Paredes at Boca? I follow Argentine football in general. I watch the matches when they’re on early and I have relationships with several colleagues. I keep an eye on how my national team teammates are doing and on the guys who have returned to Argentina to play. I try to stay attentive to all of them,” he said. In addition to the midfielder, Germán Pezzella, Gonzalo Montiel, Franco Armani, and Marcos Acuña, all champions in 2022, are also playing in the domestic league.

After a personally difficult season due to several injuries, the Bahía Blanca native is the top scorer in the Italian league with 16 goals, followed by his teammate Marcus Thuram with 13, while further back is Nicolás Paz, who has 12 for Como and was praised by Martínez: “He’s a great player. I have a friendship with him because his father played with my father in Bahía Blanca at Villa Mitre or against him, so I talk to him almost all the time. He’s a tremendous player, a great kid, he has a huge future, and obviously I hope he keeps doing well at his club so he can bring joy to all of us Argentines.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.