Bid rejected: Barcelona see €50m plus player exchange offer turned down by Euro rivals

Barcelona have reportedly seen a €50m plus player exchange offer to land Lautaro Martinez rejected by Inter as they seemingly have suffered a setback in their pursuit.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed an impressive campaign to date as he’s scored 16 goals and provided four assists in 31 appearances to help spearhead the Nerazzurri’s bid to win trophies under Antonio Conte this season.

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Further, with nine goals in 17 caps for Argentina, he seemingly has a big future ahead of him for club and country, while Lionel Messi will be fully aware of what his compatriot can offer.

However, it will perhaps be a complicated pursuit in terms of trying to find an agreement with Inter over a transfer deal to take him to the Camp Nou, as Calciomercato report, via the paper edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, that Barcelona have had a €50m plus player exchange offer rejected by the Italian giants.

It’s added that the pool of players from which two stars were also offered included Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic, Nelson Semedo and Junior Firpo, but ultimately it would appear as though it wasn’t enough to convince Inter to green light an exit for their prized asset as they want an increase on the €50m part of the offer, as per the report above.

Time will tell if Barcelona return with an improved bid, but with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic in mind, it remains to be seen if their spending is limited this summer and therefore puts their hopes of landing Martinez at risk as a result.

What is clear though is that they need to find long-term solutions in attack with Luis Suarez turning 34 next year and Ousmane Dembele’s injury troubles continuing, and so Martinez could provide them with an ideal presence in the final third to try and combine with the likes of Messi and Antoine Griezmann moving forward.