Barcelona have reportedly suffered a setback in their pursuit of Lautaro Martinez as Inter are said to have no interest in discussing an exit for their star forward.
The 22-year-old has started this season in impressive fashion as he’s bagged seven goals and two assists in 13 appearances for the Nerazzurri, while forming a potentially devastating partnership with Romelu Lukaku.
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The pair have been integral to Inter’s early push to rival Juventus for the Serie A title, and they’ll need to show consistency now to prove that they can lead Antonio Conte’s men towards challenging for major trophies this season.
However, there has been speculation over his future given he has been in such fine form, but it appears as though Inter have zero interest in entertaining the idea of losing him and are instead eager to agree new terms.
According to Calciomercato, via the paper edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Barcelona made an enquiry about the Argentine international who Lionel Messi wants as a club teammate too, but that was rejected by Inter.
Further, they are eager to agree on new terms to commit his future to the club, and if he were to put pen to paper on that, that would surely be a huge indication that he is not interested in leaving any time soon.
Should Lautaro agree to that new contract, it’s suggested that he would be in line for a salary increase, while his €111m release clause could be removed which would make it even more difficult for Barcelona to convince Inter to sell as they would be in a stronger position to demand what they want.
Time will tell how the situation plays out, but perhaps with the fact that Luis Suarez turns 33 in January in mind, Barcelona are looking to add attacking reinforcements up top next year and if Inter aren’t willing to let Lautaro move on, the reigning La Liga champions could be forced to look elsewhere.
