Inter President Provides Confident Lautaro Martinez Update Amid Barcelona Interest

Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta is confident Lautaro Martinez will remain at Inter this summer, despite continued speculation about a transfer to Barcelona

The Argentine has long been seen as the eventual successor to Luis Suarez at Camp Nou. However, Barcelona's current financial restrictions and inability to broker a swap deal has halted a potential move thus far.

Last week, Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed they've ended their pursuit of the Inter forward and now, Marotta is convinced the 22-year-old Argentine striker will continue to don the Nerazzurri strip next season.

"The rumours about Barcelona are lost in a vacuum, what matters are the facts. It is a fact that Lautaro is our player and that he has never expressed the will to leave, " Marotta said, as quoted by Marca, disregarding reports of the Argentine telling Antonio Conte of his desire to join Barca.

"Lautaro is a serious boy who does not allow himself to be influenced by the songs of these mermaids, he has had a period of involution, but in recent weeks he has been raising the bar and showing his qualities."

After enjoying a scintillating run of form between October and December last year - where he starred in the Champions League - Lautaro has endured a difficult 2020.

The striker failed to find the net in six consecutive games following his headed strike against Cagliari in January and has netted just twice since the restart, as the Nerazzurri attempt to mount a late assault for the Scudetto.

Nevertheless, despite Bartomeu and Marotta both confident a deal won't be struck this summer, reports in Italy understand the Catalans may offer Junior Firpo and Arturo Vidal alongside €70m in one final attempt to bring the 18-goal forward to the Camp Nou ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.

Gabriel Jesus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, meanwhile, have both touted as potential Lautaro replacements at Inter.