Joan Laporta picked up the phone to Beppe Marotta himself. The conversation did not last long.

“I’ll tell you what happened. One day I called Marotta. He and I, no intermediaries. I told him I would have loved to have Lautaro on my team because I admire the guy so much,” the Barcelona president said in an interview with Corriere della Sera, reported by Yahoo Sports.

“But he didn’t even let me finish speaking. He made it clear the player wasn’t for sale and that it wouldn’t be up to him to decide whether or not to move.”

The Argentina striker signed a new deal with Inter in 2024 that keeps him at the Serie A side until 2029 on a reported net salary of €9m a season. Laporta said he accepted Marotta’s position and stopped pushing.

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No vacancy in the dugout

The second part of Laporta’s double clarification was aimed at Cesc Fabregas, whose work at Como has fed repeated speculation about an eventual Camp Nou homecoming.

“No no, we are happy with our coach, we love him and he is giving us great satisfaction,” Laporta said in the same interview.

The coach in question is Hansi Flick, who agreed an extension in May that keeps him at Barcelona until 2028, with an option through 2029, after a domestic treble in his first season, LaLiga, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, and a second successive LaLiga title.

Laporta was still complimentary about the former midfielder.

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“Cesc is doing a great job. I really like his mentality.”

“He knows the Barcelona philosophy very well and has also brought it to Como. We play in a similar way, the style is that.”

Clauses, but no opening

Fabregas’s deal at Como reportedly carries release clauses for three of his former clubs, Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea, according to transfer journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.

With Flick extended and Mikel Arteta still in charge at Arsenal, that leaves no immediate route. Chelsea went in a different direction over the summer, picking Xabi Alonso after Fabregas chose to stay with the Como project. He also turned down Inter, Roma and Bayer Leverkusen during the same window.

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