Daniel Edwards
The pair have demonstrated at international level that they possess a natural rapport, and Barca must move to take advantage of that understanding
Creating a successful forward partnership it not as straightforward as it seems on paper. Real Madrid have spent hundreds of millions in their futile attempt to fill the hole left by Cristiano Ronaldo while the Portuguese himself, despite scoring plenty of goals at Juventus, is still seeking the rapport in Turin that came so naturally with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.
A similar conundrum is faced by Barcelona. The N portion of the lethal MSN trident as of yet stands for Nobody, with neither Ousmane Dembele nor Antoine Griezmann proving a consistent top-class replacement for Neymar almost three years after his record-breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain. And with Luis Suarez’s powers slowly but surely on the wane, if the Catalans do not move fast Lionel Messi will be left standing as the sole surviving member of that record-breaking trio.
Luckily for the Blaugrana, a suitable substitute for the Uruguayan has already been identified. Inter’s Lautaro Martinez is by far the top candidate to bolster the Barca attack this summer – and he comes with the priceless advantage of being more than familiar with the play of his international captain.
Lautaro, 22, has been one of the standard-bearers for Argentina since Lionel Scaloni took over from Jorge Sampaoli in the wake of the nation’s 2018 World Cup failure. Nobody has scored more Albiceleste goals under Scaloni than the Inter striker, who has netted nine times in his last 16 outings since the change of administration.
Perhaps even more importantly, he struck up an instant connection with Messi; the pair forming a fluent partnership up front that did much to take a new-look, inexperienced Argentina to the Copa America semi-finals in Brazil last year.
“He is spectacular, he has incredible talent, you could see he was going to be a great player and now he has exploded and is showing it,” Messi gushed to Mundo Deportivo in February when asked about his young strike partner. “He is very strong, he is brilliant in one-on-one situations, he scores goals, he takes on anyone in the area.
“He holds the ball up, he pivots, he goes looking for the ball. He has so much talent, he is a complete player.”
Due to the coronavirus outbreak there will be no opportunity to see how the duo fares on home soil this South American winter, as the Copa fell victim to the pandemic. But Lautaro may well be lining up alongside Leo in time for the 2020-1 campaign. Barca intend to offer the youngster €10 million (£9m/$11m) a season to leave Inter after just two seasons, with the Italians themselves in line to receive up to €111 million (£97m$121m), the value of his release clause.
Barca will naturally try to push that figure down, while Inter in turn are determined to keep their star. “I hope he stays a long time… he is an asset to the club,” vice-president Javier Zanetti told Sky Sport in a recent interview. But the effects of Covid-19 are likely to colour both sides’ considerations, with an elevated transfer fee surely too tempting to refuse for those in charge at San Siro.
If they do get their man, the Blaugrana would be welcoming one of the top young strikers in world football and one who bears an uncanny resemblance to Suarez. Martinez combines explosive power with no little subtlety in his game and excels in hitting the net off his first touch, while his aerial ability is outstanding for a man who stands a modest 1.74m (5’9”).
There would be a certain learning curve to tackle at Camp Nou, however. Lautaro to date has proved most effective as part of a two-man attack; teaming up with devastating effect with former Porto and Lyon favourite Lisandro Lopez at Racing Club and now taking on all-comers alongside Romelu Lukaku.
Adapting to a central role in Barca’s trident would be a new experience for the youngster, while the pressure to step into the shoes of someone like Suarez’s stature is also a daunting prospect. But to date Martinez has shown he has the maturity as well as the talent to step up, moving from Inter back-up to undisputed first-teamer and the club’s most valuable star within the space of a single season.
As detailed above, there are no guarantees that any forward line will magically click and take the world by storm. Messi and Martinez have shown, however, that they have the potential to be a match made in heaven – and that natural understanding more than any other consideration is what is prompting Barca to break the bank on the sublimely talented young Argentine.
