In 2018, Lautaro Martinez was almost the new signing of Atlético Madrid! How did Inter blow away the Spanish big club with their current star?

After 10 rounds, Inter Milan dominate the Italian Serie A with a two-point lead over their rivals from Juventus Turin. Argentine striker and team captain Lautaro Martinez has played a big part in the current position. Arguably the Italian giant’s brightest star, he already has 11 goals in the current season and holds a five-goal lead over his nearest pursuers in the scorers’ ranking. But did you know he came close to joining Atlético Madrid?

Everything could have been different. In an interview with Radio Serie A, Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio said that El Toro, as the dreaded goalscorer is nicknamed, was just moments away from signing a final deal with Atlético Madrid.

“Lautaro Martinez was almost an Atlético Madrid player in 2018,” he said. Martinez’s previous club Racing Club had already finalised all the formalities with the Spanish side.

According to Ausilio, all that was missing for a final agreement was a small clause between the clubs, which was not agreed upon, and which even the player reportedly disagreed with. At that point, Ausilio flew to Argentina with his team to negotiate.

“Javier Zanetti negotiated with the player’s agent and Diego Milito with the very adamant Racing Club president,” Ausilio adds, adding that the presence of the two Argentine legends was crucial to success.

Just when the transfer saga was coming to a successful end for Inter, Lautaro himself complicated the transfer with his brilliant performance in the Racing match.

“It was a disaster because Lautaro scored a hat-trick and won a penalty that night. In the end we had to sit at the negotiating table again and pay more, but we took him home.”

Inter eventually paid €25 million for Martinez, and today we can say with certainty that he repaid that trust handsomely with his 114 goals in 251 games for Inter.

Martinez has a contract with Inter until the summer of 2026 and with the captain’s armband he took over from Slovakian defender Milan Škriniar, it doesn’t look like he is thinking about a change of scenery.

Source: AS, El Mundo Deportivo, Radio Serie A