Lautaro Martinez will sign for Barcelona but only once this happens

One of the transfer soap operas of the summer appears to be coming to its conclusion, and Barcelona should have acquired Lautaro Martinez by the end of July if all goes according to plan.

Although the Blaugranes recently received an ultimatum from Inter regarding their courting of the young Argentine striker, the Catalans hold all the aces in the deal at this point.

That’s because Martinez’s reported €111m release clause only remains in effect until July 14 according to Mundo Deportivo.

What that means is that, any other interested parties will have to pay the full clause by July 14 or the player will then go to Barca for a ‘market price,’ which Mundo Deportivo expect to be considerably lower than the current clause.

Given that the outlet also report that the striker will only leave Inter to move to Barcelona, it seems that the Serie A outfit have shot themselves in the foot with their latest posturing.

It now leaves them in a much more perilous position financially, so a reluctance to accept players-plus-cash from the Catalans previously may well now be reviewed.