The transfer would have been sensational, but at the same time a major blow to Inter. Especially from a technical and image point of view. The transfer of Lautaro Martinez from the Blues to Barcelona was real. President Laporta had specifically tried to entrust the Catalan attack to 'Toros' after the departure of the Pole Lewandowski. And it was the Blaugrana president himself who revealed the details of this operation, which however did not materialize not so much because of an alleged missing agreement with the player or the club, but because of the total closure that Laporta himself found himself facing.
The Barcelona president revealed this during an interview with Corriere dello Sport, explaining what happened: "One day I called the president Beppe Marotta: me and him, without intermediaries - explained Laporta, recounting the scenario of a negotiation that probably took place years ago, when presidents would call each other -. I told him that I would have been delighted to have Lautaro in my team and that I admired the boy a lot. But he didn't even let me finish speaking."
Laporta is a football man, he knows very well that asking Inter for the Argentine Lautaro was not an operation that should have been started by putting intermediaries and agents in the conversation, but by directly contacting the number one of the black and blue company. A gesture of courtesy, respect and deep admiration, as it used to be done. After all, Barcelona was trying to get the captain, the leader and the reference point of Inter. He could not treat it as an ordinary purchase. But, despite the appreciation for the gesture, Marotta politely rejected the offer. Which in fact he did not even want to hear. "He told me clearly that the player was not for sale. And that he would not be the one to decide whether he would be transferred or not. And so I stopped all discussions, there was no way to continue".
The Barcelona president thus made it clear that he did not want to go any further, but his strategy was clear: to speak like gentlemen, without intermediaries or other people who could compromise their friendship. And this is what Laporta says: "Between Marotta and I there is a relationship of mutual trust, we did not go further out of respect for him and Inter". It is not clear whether Lautaro would have accepted the destination or not, but in these cases, when the company gives the green light, it is almost certain that the final sale of the footballer will then be proceeded with. Chivu did not want to give up on the Argentine, who has a contract that expires on June 30, 2029.
