Barcelona will soon be confronted with Inter Milan in the semi-final of the Champions League and they will have to contend with Lautaro Martinez-Die is the star of the Nerazzurri. But if it had been difficult, he could have been able to wear the Blaugrana sweater during the coming draw.
In 2020, Barcelona was looking for a new striker because he had supposed to be that Luis Suarez was no longer good enough to be the starting number nine. And it was Lautaro that sports director Ramon Planes settled as the best option of the club to replace the Uruguayan International.
And according to the sport it was a deal that seemed to be on their way to completion. Inter was reluctantly willing to renounce Lautaro, but only if his release clause of € 110 million was activated. And that is exactly what Barcelona did, but they only did this because the Italians agreed to sign one of Nelson Semedo or Junior Firpo for € 35 million.
Lautaro, who also came close to signing for Atletico Madrid two years prior to this episode, really wanted to become a member of Barcelona, because it was his wish to play in addition to international teammate Lionel Messi. But just as everything had been agreed, a deal dropped when the COVID-19 Pandemie took away the finances that the Catalan club prepared to use for the deal with Inter.
12 months after that deal collapsed, Lautaro signed a new contract with Inter that removed the release clause, and that led anyone to be able to praise him from the San Siro. Barcelona will desperately hope that this failed expedition will not return to chase them in the semi-final of the Champions League five years later, while preparing for the 27-year-old and his teammates.