Former Barcelona president says he wouldn’t pay full €111m for Lautaro Martinez

Ex-president of Barcelona Sandro Rosell loves to get his name in the papers by talking about the club’s transfer plans, and given the businessman has a new book out, it’s no surprise to see him in Mundo Deportivo talking about the attempts to sign Lautaro Martinez this summer.

The Argentine striker is the name on everyone’s lips in Spain as Barca consider activating his €111m release clause. That would not be a wise move according to Rosell, who says that he “would not sign Lautaro for €11m.”

“I would sign Neymar [instead], he’s the best after Messi,” he continued.

He did concede that the price for the forward could be lowered by including players in exchange, as has clearly been Barca’s strategy since the start, but at the full fee he doesn’t think Martinez is a wise move.

It’s certainly an expensive one, and a risky one in this summer which could see very limited liquidity in the transfer market.

On the subject of Neymar – who he signed for the club the first time in 2013 – he insisted that while he would make him sign two contracts – one for football and one of “commitment”, after the Brazilian walked away from the club in 2017 when PSG triggered his own release clause.

“I saw some comments in regards to my son, people saying: ‘I hope your son gets corona’.” – Who is getting abuse for refusing to play in the Premier League? Find out here.

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