It appears that Lionel Messi would be pleased to see his Argentina national teammate Lautaro Martinez join him in Barcelona. Messi recently praised Martinez in an interview with Mundo Deportivo, calling Inter Milan’s star a “complete forward.”
Martinez has been linked with a move to Barca for months now, but the club currently doesn’t have funds to pay his $110 million release clause. La Liga giants are instead hoping to convince Inter to either drop their asking price or to accept money and one or two players in exchange.
Asked about Martinez rumors by Mundo Deportivo, Messi spoke highly of the 22-year-old and even compared him to Luis Suarez.
“He’s strong, he’s a good dribbler, he scores goals and he knows how to protect the ball,” said Messi. “He has a lot of similarities with Suarez. They both use their bodies well and hold the ball up.”
Messi, however, doesn’t have any inside info on whether Martinez is on his way to La Liga.
“We will have to see what happens with [Martinez] and the other names that have been linked,” he added. “If I am honest, I don’t know if there are talks underway to sign him or not. I have no idea.
Lautaro Martinez joined Inter Milan in 2018 from Argentina side Velez. After a solid first year in Italy, he is having a breakthrough season in 2019/20, forming a lethal partnership with Romelu Lukaku.
Before the Seria A decided to suspend its competition due to coronavirus, Martinez had 11 goals and three assists this season. He also added five goals in other competitions.
