Liverpool retain an interest in signing Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez, who could be up for sale this summer.
That’s according to a report from calciomercato.com.
They claim that the Argentine attacker could be ‘sacrificed’ by Inter to fund their own spending spree.
The fee that The Reds would have to pay is quoted at £75m. That sounds steep for a player who hasn’t scored for over two months in Serie A.
According to calciomercato, Liverpool considered a move for the 24-year-old in 2020. But The Reds opted to sign Diogo Jota instead.
That didn’t work out too badly now, did it!
What did Klopp say about him
Jurgen Klopp spoke about Lautaro upon the news that Liverpool had been drawn with Inter Milan in this season’s Champions League last-16.
“Obviously Sanchez and Dzeko we know well – and Lautaro Martinez is one of the most exciting strikers in the world, probably,” said Klopp as per liverpoolfc.com last December.
This is by no means an admission of interest from the Liverpool manager. But it’s interesting nonetheless.
The player has obvious similarities to Roberto Firmino. The report in calciomercato even claims that Martinez is still on Liverpool’s list for the ‘post-Firmino’ period.
Lautaro is more of a goalscoring forward than Firmino. Although his strike-rate of a goal every 2.7 games for Inter isn’t actually dissimilar to Bobby’s record of one every 3.3 in red.
How did he do against Liverpool
Martinez cut a frustrated figure during Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Inter last Wednesday.
Aside from one moment where he nearly got on the end of an Ivan Perisic cross, he wasn’t able to get into the game.
He was finally replaced by Alexis Sanchez with 20 minutes to go.
It wasn’t the best advert for a £75m player. But Liverpool fans will be able to get a closer look at him as Inter travel to Anfield for the second-leg on March 8th.
Liverpool don’t sign players on the back of one performance. But if Martinez really is on Liverpool’s radar, then a good display at Anfield could tip the balance in his favour.