Barcelona to ignore Lautaro release clause deadline

Barcelona will not be paying any attention to the release clause in Lautaro Martinez’s contract with Inter Milan expiration date, according to AS.

The Catalans have been making a strong effort to find an agreement with the Serie A side over a potential transfer of the striker to the Camp Nou, seeing the Argentinian as an ideal successor to 33-year-old Luis Suarez. However, things haven’t been easy for them on that front. The clause which, if activated, would take the matter out of Inter’s hands, reportedly stands at €111 million, but the Inter sporting CEO Beppe Marotta recently revealed that it expires on July 7th.

Nonetheless, Barcelona will ignore the deadline, as they simply cannot pay €111m at the moment. Marotta is aware of that, and the La Liga champions agree, aware that if they choose to persist with the interest in Lautaro, the negotiations are set to turn into a very long and wearying saga.