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Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu said that the club would contact Inter Milan over a transfer for Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez only after the end of the Champions League campaign.
It is now an open secret that Martinez is Barcelona's top transfer target for the summer. The Blaugrana are obviously looking for an adequate source of goals to take some burden off the shoulders of Lionel Messi. And the 22-year-old Argentine fits the bill.
Bartomeu has acknowledged in the recent past that coughing up the cash that Inter are demanding for Martinez could be a challenge for Barcelona. This is mainly down to the financial losses the club has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the Barca club President, in a recent interview to BeIN, said that contact will be made with Inter Milan after the current European campaign ends at the end of August.
Inter Milan are thought to be demanding €90m for Martinez's signature. And without sales, it is hard to imagine Barcelona having the means to pay for such an expensive transfer.
However, Barcelona are said to have placed Philippe Coutinho, Junior Firpo, Ivan Rakitic and even new signing Francisco Trincao on the transfer list. This has been done with the hope to conjure up the amount required to place the required bid for Martinez.
Bartomeu sets date for Barcelona talks with Inter Milan
Martinez is also in action with Inter in European competition through this month. Hence, it is difficult to imagine there will be much progress made on this deal before the end of the respective clubs' European campaigns.
If Barcelona do manage Martinez's signing, he will come into the squad as a competitor for Luis Suarez's spot in the starting XI. The Argentine will possibly try to become a permanent fixture in what has been an ever-changing Barca front three recently.
Since Neymar's departure to PSG in the summer of 2017, Dembele, Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann have all been bought for exorbitant amounts. But none of them have set the stage on fire. That has given Barca a massive headache on how the over-dependence on Messi can be sorted out.
Bartomeu, though, is confident that he can complete the deal to bring Martinez to Barcelona. That would be another win for the beleaguered Barcelona President after goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen's contract renewal (until 2025) was announced recently.
