Italian journalist Luca Marchetti has said that Barcelona have not ended their interest in signing Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan. The Spanish champions have been heavily tipped to sign the Argentina international since the beginning of the year but they have not made any progress in the negotiations with the Nerazzurri.

The Serie A giants have made it clear that they won’t sanction his sale for anything less than the £100m release clause and that remains a stumbling block for the Blaugrana, who need to offload players to recoup funds. Still, they continue to be linked with the former Racing Club man and Marchetti has said that the La Liga holders have only postponed their move for the marksman.

“Lautaro Martinez to Barcelona is not all over, but postponed”, He told in an interview with Italian radio station Radio 24 show Tutto Convocati. “Inter have said that if Barcelona want Lautaro they have to pay his release clause and they can’t pay it right now, also because of the rules introduced in Spain.”
The Blaugrana obviously needed to balance their financial books for the fiscal year and they managed to do so with the sale of Arthur to Juventus which was confirmed before June 30. Still, they did not make much of an overall profit from the £65m transfer, given they recruited Miralem Pjanic from the Bianconeri for around £56m.
Martinez’s release clause is due to expire over the next few days and reports suggest that the Blaugrana will thereafter attempt to negotiate a lower value. There has been no indication from Inter’s side that they would consider the player’s departure, but the Blaugrana remain optimistic of pulling off the transfer deal this summer. The 22-year-old has bagged 17 goals and four assists from 36 appearances for the Nerazzurri this season.