Barcelona spent most of the summer chasing Julian Alvarez. When that pursuit collapsed against Atletico Madrid’s refusal to sell, Hansi Flick and sporting director Deco pivoted to another Argentine international, this time in Italy. That door is closing just as fast.

Inter’s position is that Lautaro will not be sold under any circumstances before the window ends, and the reigning Serie A champions view their captain as untouchable. Italian and Spanish reporting has largely converged on the same conclusion, even as Catalan outlets have suggested the player himself is open to the move.

Deco met Camano in Madrid

Deco held talks in Madrid with Lautaro’s representative Alejandro Camano, according to reporting from Jijantes’ Gerard Romero. The agent’s camp was described as receptive, and the Argentine forward is now framed as Flick’s top target for the final stretch of the window.

“It will be a very difficult deal to pull off, but Lautaro is Barça’s number-one priority, and the club will do everything possible in the final days of the transfer window,” Romero said on Jijantes.

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Inter’s stance is that any bidder must open the conversation directly with the club. There is no formal proposal on the desk to consider.

The €120m clause was dropped

Lautaro signed a contract extension two years ago that ties him to Inter until 2029. In that renewal the club and player dropped the €120m release clause that had briefly existed in the previous deal, closing off the one route Barcelona could have used to force a transfer without Inter’s cooperation.

That leaves any Catalan approach dependent on a negotiated fee Inter have no interest in setting, and on a wage that Barcelona would have to structure inside a salary cap that has repeatedly bitten this summer. Even a bid well above market value would only open the discussion, not settle it.

The picture is complicated by conflicting reports. One Italian read of the situation is that Barcelona’s contact never moved beyond an initial enquiry: “Barcelona did enquire about Lautaro Martinez’s situation. The interest never developed into anything serious, stopping at an initial enquiry without any move towards official negotiations.”

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Atletico said no first

The alternative was supposed to be Alvarez. Atletico rejected the approach publicly and repeatedly through the summer, with Diego Simeone making the club’s position plain earlier this month.

“I think the situation is very clear. The club has made a decision that (CEO) Miguel Angel (Gil Marin) has explained very well,” Simeone told reporters on 8 August.

Barcelona have now been turned away by two clubs on two attacking targets, with only days of the window left.

Lautaro’s focus is on the Scudetto

Lautaro himself is fixed on being fit for Inter’s Serie A title defence, which opens at San Siro against Monza on Saturday, 22 August. Kick-off in Milan is at 6:30pm local time, with Cristian Chivu due to face the media at Appiano Gentile on Friday afternoon.

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Genuine Barcelona interest in the Argentine is not new. The clubs circled around a similar conversation before the COVID-19 pandemic. With the transfer window shutting in a matter of days and no formal bid on Inter’s desk, Lautaro looks set to line up in Nerazzurri colours on Saturday.

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