FORLAN: MARTINEZ ON ANOTHER LEVEL

India Premier League superstar Diego Forlan has given his opinion about the long transfer saga between Barcelona and his former club Inter Milan, over the transfer of Lautaro Martinez. Forlan was asked by Calciomarcato about the transfer.

Forlan, who played his later days in the India Premier League with Mumbai City FC and has since taken up a coaching role, stated that only time will tell if the Argentine can fill the boots of fellow country man Luiz Suarez. He admitted the two players are great professionals but there are big question marks as to whether Lautaro can fill in at Camp Nou.

Barcelona are positive that they will be able to win the race for the striker Martínez, despite serious interest from Premier league duo Chelsea and Manchester City – https://www.betting24.dk/ have big-spending City as slight favourites, though a lot depends on whether City will be banned from the Champions League or not.

Barca are looking for attacking reinforcements to serve as competition for ageing Luis Suárez. The Uruguay international has endured a troubled season. The striker is out due to injury and he won’t  make a return to first team  action till later in April.

The Blaugrana were given dispensation to sign another striker outside the transfer window due to serious injury to French youngster Ousmane Dembele. And the emergency signing, Martin Braithwaite, unsurprisingly is not considered as the long-term solution.

Braithwaite might not be, but the club sees Martínez as an ideal long term replacement for Suarez. According to a report from Sport, note that ​Barcelona are increasingly optimistic that they will be able to get this one over the line after convincing the Argentine that moving to Camp Nou is his best option – not least because Romelu Lukaku has now taken his starting spot at Inter quite convincingly.

Club officials have spent months speaking with Martínez’s representatives, and they are convinced that the ​Inter man wants to join Barca at the end of the season.

They focused their efforts on convincing Martínez to snub rivals ​Real Madrid, but there is thought to be pressure on them from ​City and ​Chelsea, both of whom have indicated a willingness to shell out a huge fee to sign the 22-year-old.