[Sport] Barcelona placates Messi and offers 80 million euros to join his "friend"

[HiTLeR]

 

After Lionel Messi's decision to stay in Barcelona, Spain and not escalate his crisis with him to the judiciary, local press reports revealed that the Catalan club is trying to appease the Argentine star by contracting with his countryman and friend Lautaro Martinez this summer.

The agent of the Inter Milan striker has already opened communication channels with Barcelona officials, according to the Spanish sports newspaper, "Sport", which confirmed that he will meet with representatives of the club during the next few days, to discuss the deal that Barcelona has long sought.

There is a penalty clause in the contract of Martinez (23 years) with Inter, worth 111 million euros, but Barcelona expressed its willingness to pay 80 million to disengage the player and his club.

According to "Sport", Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has put forward a substitute for Martinez in the event that the club's efforts to sign him do not succeed, the Dutch striker, Memphis Depay, Lyon.

The international player's contract with his club expires at the end of next season, and the two parties have already entered into negotiations to extend it, but it could be available for 30 million euros, according to the newspaper.

Barcelona recently got out, if only temporarily, from the crisis of the team captain and its most prominent star Messi, who decided to stay in the team for next season after his attempts to leave for free this summer.

Previous press reports confirmed that the inclusion of Martinez was one of the demands of his compatriot Messi, who was fed up with the Barcelona administration's failure to support the team with strong deals, to compensate for the decline in the level of some stars due to their old age.