Lautaro Martínez follows Racing and on Milito: «We're mates» | OneFootball

Argentina national team and Inter Milan player Lautaro Martínez said he still follows Racing, the club where he developed, and also keeps an eye on his Albiceleste teammate Leandro Paredes. He also revealed that he has a friendship with Diego Milito, the current president of the Academy, whom he overlapped with early in his career.

“I follow Racing. Milito was with me recently, and I have a friendship with the president. Sometimes the matches are late, but when I can, I follow them and talk 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 going through the Avellaneda side, which has now gone seven matches without a win, leading to fans insulting the board led by the Prince.

The Toro and Milito, both Inter idols, overlapped at Racing when the current Argentina striker was taking his first steps and the now club executive was nearing retirement. Lautaro made his first-team debut for the Academy in October 2015, in a 3-0 thrashing of Crucero del Norte, when he came on for the Prince. Such is their friendship that they have met several times lately 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, the Boca midfielder and 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 early, and I have relationships with several colleagues. I keep an eye on how my national team teammates are doing and on players who have returned to Argentina to play. I try to stay attentive to all of them,” he said. Besides the midfielder, fellow 2022 world champions Germán Pezzella, Gonzalo Montiel, Franco Armani, and Marcos Acuña 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 Argentinians.”

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