Who Is Lautaro Martinez, The Argentina Star Everyone Is Talking About?

Have you ever heard the name of Lautaro Martinez? Because if not, you should start paying more attention to South American football.

Martinez is a 20-year-old striker who currently plays for Racing Avellaneda, one of the biggest clubs in the Argentina Super League. The talented forward has enjoyed a quick rise into the first team and, as it tends to be the case with CONMEBOL players, several top European sides have set their sights on him. Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and even Real Madrid have been linked with a move for him. However, all signs indicate he will continue his career playing for Inter Milan in the Serie A. The Neroazzurri side will pay €30 million for the Argentina international.

Martinez is considered one of the best strikers in Argentina. Fans wanted him in the National Team, and manager Jorge Sampaoli granted him his first cap with La Albiceleste during the team’s 1-6 loss against Spain last week. He has a decent chance to make the 2018 World Cup squad, though. Local pundits believe he is ahead of names such as Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi in Sampaoli’s consideration. That would be huge consider he was playing in Racing’s U20 months ago.

And while he is not better than Dybala and Icardi by any means – two of the best players in the Serie A right now – but the fact that he could make the 2018 World Cup squad should speak volumes about his quality, and his untapped potential. It only takes a quick look watching him play to see that he will definitively become a superstar sooner than later.

His playing style screams “superstar talent”

Despite the fact Martinez is quite young, there is not one thing he does wrong. He can score with the best of them, can carry the side offensively when needed, is an important for Racing, and most importantly, he continues to improve game after game. His amount of tricks is simply amazing, and has enough quality to become one of the top strikers in the world in the coming years. And if we speak about watching him play, we can see he is a bit of a crossover between Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain; he has Aguero’s ability to drift in and out of the box, but can also play as a typical centre forward like Higuain does.

Only time will tell whether he moves to Europe or not, although that seems inevitable. Even though the Avellaneda side either isn’t ready to part ways with their 20-year-old talisman, make no mistake. Lautaro is too good to remain in Argentina, and we could have news on his new destination sooner than later.

For now, the football world needs to appreciate him. We might be in the verge of seeing a top youngster blossoming into a world-class talent right in front of our eyes.