Lautaro Martinez Agrees Personal Terms With Barcelona: Report

Getty Lautaro Martinez is wanted by Barcelona

Barcelona’s hopes of bringing in Lautaro Martinez from Inter this summer rest on the club being able to sell Philippe Coutinho.

The Catalan giants have “agreed personal terms” with Martinez and “negotiations over a transfer are ongoing” with the Nerazzurri, according to ESPN’s Moises Llorens and Sam Marsden.

However, the deal also depends on Barcelona being able to raise funds by selling players, and Coutinho “has been pinpointed as the player that could bring in the most money.”

Barcelona splashed out an enormous €160 million to bring Coutinho to the Camp Nou from Liverpool in January 2018. It seems unlikely Barca would be able to sell the 28-year-old for anywhere near that figure, but he does remain one of their more marketble players.

Coutinho Wants Premier League Return

Coutinho’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, has said that the forward wants to return to the Premier League. He’s spent the season on loan at Bayern Munich, but the German giants have confirmed they won’t activate the purchase option in his contract.

Joorabchian told Sky Sports that Coutinho’s preferred option is to play in England again but admitted he is unsure if such a move is possible in 2020.

“He has a desire to come back to the Premier League at some point. It may not happen this year, it may happen this year – we don’t know. We have not discussed anything for now.”

Former Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique told Stadium Astro that the Brazilian is the perfect player for the Reds and encouraged them to make a move.

“We need a playmaker, a number 10, who is going to be better than Coutinho for us? He knows the club, he knows the city, he’s going to perform straight away because he’s been a Premier League player.

“The only problem is wages-wise, I believe he’s very, very high wages-wise in Barcelona, so I’m not sure if he will go to Liverpool obviously losing money.

“The problem with Barcelona, they try to play him on the left side all the time, in Neymar’s position and he’s not this type of player, he needs to play in the middle.”

Coutinho’s Barcelona wages are worth more than £200,000-a-week, according to Mike McGrath at the Telegraph.

Lautaro Distracted By Transfer Talk?

Meanwhile, Martinez’s form for Inter has come under scrutiny since Serie A resumed following a long lay-off because of Covid-19. The Argentine has scored just once in seven games since lockdown.

Inter CEO Beppe Marotta has told Sky Sport Italia that the striker may have been affected by all the speculation surrounding his future.

“Inter do not want to sell their most important players, we are talking about a 22-year-old boy who is in a period of his career where there are constant rumours that maybe affect him.

“We admired an excellent Lautaro in the first half of the season. Now he must regain the serenity that will allow him to have personal satisfaction and make his contribution to Inter like he did in the first part.”

An intriguing summer awaits for Barcelona in the transfer window. Martinez continues to be a top target, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to find a club willing to spend big on Coutinho.

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