Will The Inter Milan's Star Leave Or Stay?

Lautaro Martinez confirms that his contract extension with Inter ‘is down to the details’ and he is ‘happy’ to stay at the club.

The striker is currently tied to the San Siro giants until June 2026, but the negotiations for a new deal have been going for months with few signs of problems.

“There is not long to go before we can sign the renewal, it is down to the details. We are talking and on the right track,” Lautaro Martinez told Sportitalia.

This crowns a remarkable 2023 for the striker, who celebrated the World Cup with Argentina, followed by the Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana and the Champions League Final against Manchester City.

“It has been a fantastic year for me, the only piece of the puzzle missing was in Istanbul. We have grown so much as a team and I am happy to continue at Inter.”

Today’s 2-1 win over Verona means that Inter are officially crowned Winter Champions of Serie A for this season, maintaining at least a two-point advantage over Juventus.

“We are focused on ourselves, without anxiety. It’s natural that we struggled a little in recent games against Genoa and Verona, who are fighting hard for every point.”

Personal information:                                                 Lautaro Javier Martínez (born 22 August 1997) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker or second-striker for Serie A club Inter Milan, which he captains, and the Argentina national team. He is known for his work rate, positioning inside the box, link play and finishing. He is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world.

Martínez began his football career in his native Argentina, where he made his senior debut in 2015 with Racing Club. There he spent four seasons and represented the club in the league and Copa Libertadores, scoring 28 goals in 60 appearances before joining Inter in 2018, where he won the Serie A title in his third season with the club.

Martínez also previously represented Argentina at various youth levels and competed at the 2017 South American U-20 Championship and 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He made his senior international debut in 2018, and played for the senior squad at the Copa América in 2019, helping his team to a third place finish, and 2021, winning the latter edition of the tournament. He was also a part of the Argentina side that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.                                                                

 Martínez officially joined Inter on 4 July 2018 for a reported fee of €22.7 million and he signed a five-year contract with the club.[16] He made his unofficial debut ten days later and scored in a 3–0 friendly win over Swiss club, Lugano.[17] His full debut followed on 19 August when he started in a 1–0 Serie A loss to Sassuolo in the opening week.[18] He scored his first league goal against Cagliari, the opener of a 2–0 win at San Siro on 29 September.[19]

Martínez scored his first European goal on 14 February 2019, netting a penalty to help Inter win against Rapid Wien, in the first leg of 2018–19 UEFA Europa League round of 32.[20] Following this match, he began to start in every match, profiting from Mauro Icardi's absence due to personal reasons.[21] In his first Derby della Madonnina match against city rivals Milan, Martínez first assisted Matías Vecino's header before scoring himself a penalty in the second half, helping Inter to win 3–2;[22] Inter retook the third place in Serie A,[23] and also achieved the first league double over them since 2011–12 season.[24]

On 2 October 2019, Lautaro Martínez scored his first goal in UEFA Champions League in a 2–1 away defeat to Barcelona in group stage;[25] he became the first player since Roberto Boninsegna in 1970 to score at Camp Nou for Inter.[26] Later in the competition, by scoring a brace in a 3–1 away win against Slavia Prague, Martínez reached two milestones: he became only the fourth Inter player (after Hernán Crespo in 2002, Christian Vieri in 2003 and Samuel Eto'o in 2010) and the fifth Argentinian player (after Hernan Crespo in 2002, Lionel Messi in six occasions, Sergio Agüero in 2019 and Ezequiel Lavezzi in 2013) to score in four consecutive Champions League games.[27][28] On 17 August 2020, Martínez scored a brace in a 5–0 win against Shakhtar Donetsk to reach the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final.[29] On 8 March 2022, Martínez scored against Liverpool in a 1–0 victory at Anfield, marking Inter's first Champions League knockout goal in 3,647 days.[30]

On 16 May 2023, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over rivals Milan in the Champions League semi-final second leg, which secured a 3–0 win on aggregate for his club and qualification to the Final for the first time since 2010.[31] On 24 May, he scored a brace in a 2–1 victory over Fiorentina, to achieve his second consecutive Coppa Italia.[32]

Martínez began the 2023–24 season, his sixth with the club, as the first choice striker, albeit once again without his strike partner Romelu Lukaku after he returned to Chelsea finishing the end of his loan spell. Martínez began the season with an immediate impact for Inter, scoring both goals in a 2–0 home win over Monza on the first match day, and then scoring Inter's second goal the following week in another 2–0 win away against Cagliari.

On 30 September 2023, after replacing Alexis Sánchez in the 55th minute of Inter's 4–0 win against Salernitana, Martínez became the first player in Serie A history to score 4 goals as a substitute.[33]