Inter Milan reject Barcelona's offer for Lautaro Martinez, demand release clause payment

Defending LaLiga champions Barcelona have suffered a major blow in their pursuit of signing Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez after recent comments from the club’s sporting director. Since his rise in Serie A this season, the Argentine striker has been linked with a move to Camp Nou. In fact, the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez openly spoke about the 22-year-old. 

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Barcelona should pay entire Lautaro Martinez release clause

While speaking to Sky Sports, Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio revealed that Barcelona did contact the Italian giants to inquire about Martinez. However, the Argentina international is not for sale at the moment, said Ausilio. He also asserted that Barcelona will have to pay the entire release clause amount if they wished to sign the striker. The Lautaro Martinez release clause is €111 million ($122 million). 

Ausilio stated that Barcelona will have to pay the release clause in full if they want to sign Martinez. He asserted that the release clause will have to be paid immediately, without any option of instalments, saying that the offer will be valid only from July 1 to July 15, beyond which, the deal will not proceed. Sky Sports report that the Catalan giants have been holding talks with Inter Milan since the past three months, however, no agreement has been reached yet. 

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Barcelona look to sell Antoine Griezmann for Lautaro Martinez

Earlier reports suggested that Barcelona were willing to sell off Antoine Griezmann in the summer transfer window to make way for Martinez at Camp Nou. The France international was signed only last summer from Atletico Madrid and is yet to replicate his Roji Blancos' form for Barcelona. Meanwhile, Luis Suarez has reportedly welcomed competition from the 22-year-old for the target man job under Quique Setien. 

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Recently, former Juventus manager Fabio Capello had warned Martinez on his purported move to Barcelona. He urged the striker to continue at Inter Milan for another season. If the Argentina international did join the Camp Nou outfit this summer, he might find himself spending time on the bench as it will be difficult for him to replace Suarez. It was thus beneficial for him to start for Inter Milan than to arrive as a bench player at Barcelona, Capello concluded.

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