Lionel Messi has defended the FC Barcelona colours and rewritten our club’s history books for almost two decades – but a recent revelation confirms that Leo’s career could have been very different.
According to former Inter Milan sporting director Marco Branca, the Serie A giants spotted Messi’s talent and went all out to recruit him: “Yes, we moved for him but Leo did not want to leave Barcelona. He was very grateful to the club. Money does not always come first.”
Inter Milan’s former owner Massimo Moratti confirmed the story: “Messi is everyone’s dream but he will not leave Barcelona. He’s still the greatest player of all.”
As we have discussed in depth at The Barcelona Podcast, Messi has been central to Barca’s success and we will be forever grateful for his excellence and love for the Blaugrana colours. However, Leo doesn’t have many more seasons at the Camp Nou and the board must do everything within their power to reinforce the squad as a matter of urgency.
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And yet, here we are again, 12 years on: There is another Argentina forward trapped in the middle of continued transfer speculation between Barcelona and Inter Milan.
Ivan Zamorano, who starred for the Nerazzurri in the late 1990s, had his say on Lautaro Martinez’s future: “Barcelona have economic problems that don’t allow them to sign Lautaro, so in my opinion he’ll stay, I have no doubt. I guarantee that Lautaro is the future of Inter.”
“Barcelona must put €100 million on the table, which is the least that Inter has asked for Lautaro. Antonio Conte likes Vidal very much, for sure, but first they have to offer €100m.”
Italian coach Fabio Capello also had his say on the matter: “Lautaro Martinez is a very good player. He has everything – a lot of quality, very fast moves and also he’s very good when he shoots on goal. Going to Barcelona and becoming a starter with Luis Suarez there is difficult. I think it is better to be a starter at Inter than a substitute at Barcelona.”
Racing Club president Victor Blanco also weighed into the situation for Football Italia: “I get the feeling that Lautaro Martinez is close to a move to Barcelona, even if I haven’t talked to him recently.”
“We will have a cut of the transfer, as fortunately we thought long-term when selling to Inter, even if the €2m to remove that clause was very tempting at the time. We decided to gamble on his future, without knowing if and when that was going to happen.”
Given Messi’s limited timeline, I strongly believe that Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu must do everything within his power to bring world-class talent to the Camp Nou – and that includes both Lautaro Martinez and Neymar.
