This summer, Barca made Lautaro their number one singular goal. As it seeks a long-term replacement for Luis Suarez, who turned 33 in January and is about to enter the last year of his Camp Nou contract.
Messi and Lautaro will be the best duo at Barca and Argentine national team
Argentine national team coach Lionel Scaloni wants Lautaro Martinez to play with his international team-mate Lionel Messi at Barcelona. Still, he is inferior to the Catalan giants before the challenge to prise him away from Inter. This summer, Barca made Lautaro their number one singular goal. As it seeks a long-term replacement for Luis Suarez, who turned 33 in January and is about to enter the last year of his Camp Nou contract. Messi is only five months younger than Suarez. But Barca believes it can form an effective strike partnership with his compatriot Lautaro for the next several seasons. It is thought that they seek to try to negotiate a deal. At a much lower cost than the stated clause on the release of a striker for €111 million (£97m/$121m). At the same time, Ivan Rakitić, Arturo Vidal, and Samuel Umtiti could be offered in a part-exchange deal.
€10 million to sign Lautaro from Inter
As reported in April, the club is ready to offer Lautaro a contract worth €10 million (£9/$11 million) per year to lure him from San Siro. It is reported that Messi even talked with his fellow countryman. Who has so far scored 16 goals in 31 matches this season, and told him that he wants him to become his team-mate for Camp Nou in the next campaign. Scaloni admits that he is excited about the prospect of two of his main strikers playing together at the club level. As he looks forward to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 but warned that the deal is still far from complete. “Lautaro today is a fashionable striker, the one who every big team wants,” he told reporters.
“He is already with a large team that competes equally with other teams, and it will be tough to get him out of there”. If Lautaro is lucky enough to go and play with a team like Messi in Barcelona. Then for us in Argentina, the more they play together, the better. “Lautaro is a young player with an incredible future. He is strong and has a great desire to succeed”. I do not want to intervene, but if he changes clubs, I hope he does well.”