Reports: Lautaro Martinez set to reject Manchester City in favour of Barcelona

Manchester City have enquired about a move for Barcelona target Lautaro Martinez, according to Italian reports. Gazzetta claim that City, fresh off a positive outcome of their Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) hearing, want Lautaro to replace Sergio Aguero.

However, they also add that the Premier League does not interest the young striker as much as a move to Barcelona does. The Argentine has his heart set on playing alongside his compatriot and football icon Lionel Messi in LaLiga Santander.

7 - Lautaro #Martínez has scored the first goal of the match in 7 different games in the current Serie A campaign, a joint-record alongside Ciro Immobile. Toro.#InterCagliari pic.twitter.com/qKVQCIVEUb

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 26, 2020

The report states adds that City have a renewed vigour in the transfer market after the CAS cleared them to compete in the Champions League. Due to this, the Cityzens are in a much better financial state than the Catalans, who have come under fire for their transfer policy.

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Lautaro eyes Barcelona move amidst Manchester City interest

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have registered their interest in signing El Toro

There have been whispers of Manchester City's reported interest in Lautaro for a few months now. The Argentine, one of the most in-demand youngsters in the world, and has been unstoppable for Inter Milan. The 22-year-old has formed a lethal understanding with Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku at the helm of the Nerazzurri attack.

Despite Manchester City throwing their hat into the ring, Lautaro has made it clear that it's either Barcelona or bust for him. 'El Toro', according to the report, would rather stay in Milan for another year as opposed to moving elsewhere.

This could permanently put an end to Manchester City's hopes of luring the South American. They hoped for him to be a like-for-like replacement for their ageing club legend Aguero, who turned 32 in June.

Sergio Aguero's time at Manchester City could come to an end soon

Manchester City's record scorer has also suffered his fair share of injuries over the last few years and is currently out with a knee injury. Aguero was the player that Lautaro was compared to while he was at Racing Club, given their similar builds and style of play.

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While Pep Guardiola's current club Manchester City are set to miss out on El Toro, his former club Barcelona could benefit significantly with Lautaro's arrival. The Catalans have long considered the Argentine as the natural heir to Luis Suarez, who turns 34 come January.

13 - Lautaro Martinez is the youngest player to have scored at least 13 goals in all competitions amongst the players of the top-5 European Leagues 2019/20. Brazen. pic.twitter.com/fCbm2t7Bp3

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) December 2, 2019

The Inter Milan man even has the seal of approval from Barcelona captain Lionel Messi. The striker shared the pitch with Messi while on national duty and drew immense praise form his skipper. Speaking on Lautaro, Messi expressed;

"To be honest, I don't really know if there are any negotiations for him at the moment, I have no idea. I think I have already said that Lautaro Martinez is an impressive striker, especially because I think he is a striker very complete and strong, dribbles well, knows how to score, knows how to protect the ball... But well, having said that we should see what will happen."

Barcelona have been locked in negotiations with Inter for a considerable while now, with no agreement reached as of yet. Barcelona hope to convince Inter to accept an offer of €90m + Junior Firpo, but Inter are reportedly insistent on Lautaro's €111m release clause being paid in full.

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