One of the main stars at Milan’s La Scala theater during the Gran Gala del Calcio, an annual event organized by the Italian Footballers’ Association, was Inter captain Lautaro Martínez. The Argentine striker was honored alongside Donyell Malen and Nico Paz as one of the best forwards of last season.
Lautaro, known as El Toro, finished the campaign as Serie A’s top scorer with 17 goals, all of which played an important role in Inter’s title triumph, as well as their Coppa Italia victory.
Speaking on stage, with the summer transfer window in Italy having closed just this Tuesday, the Argentine forward confirmed that Barcelona had shown strong interest in signing him in recent weeks. However, his desire was in line with Inter’s: to continue the story he began with the club back in 2018.
“When these kinds of offers and calls come in, it’s always nice because you work hard to reach the highest level. The rumors were true, but I’ve always been very clear about what I wanted: I wanted to stay here, with my teammates and these wonderful fans.
“I would stay here forever. As long as they want me and I can be useful to this team, I’ll stay here. We all know how football works: when you’re no longer useful, they send you away. But my intentions are very clear.
“For me, Inter is everything — pride, happiness, and the desire to keep moving forward. Once again, I’ve chosen to stay here. I want to achieve great things with Inter,” Lautaro said when asked about Barcelona.