Barcelona captain Lionel Messi appears to have given his blessing for Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez to join the club this summer.
Martinez is Barca's top target as a long-term replacement for Luis Suarez, but the Argentine's €111million (£97.7m) release clause could prove problematic as the Catalan club struggle to balance their books following the impacts of coronavirus.
“If I'm honest, I don't know whether or not there have been negotiations for him, I have no idea," Messi told Mundo Deportivo. "As I have commented before, Lautaro is an impressive striker.
"Above all because I would say he is a very complete forward: he's strong, good at taking players on, he scores goals, knows how to protect the ball. But we'll have to see what happens with him and other names that are being linked."
Messi also reiterated that he has no part in the process of bringing in new players and predicted a strange summer window after the enforced break due to Covid-19.
"With the signings, there are people at the club who are in charge of that and they have to be the ones who choose the players they believe are best for the squad," he said.
"It's clear that this is a special situation at the moment and the market will be stranger as well, so we will have to be sharp and get it right to be able to improve what we have already."
