Brilliant Brazilian Neymar, high-flying Argentine Lautaro Martinez or both?
That’s the big question facing Barcelona right now as they sit tight amid the carnage being created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Both of these two ace South American super strikers have been linked with the Spanish La Liga giants.
First prize would be to get both, but financially it might be out of the question.
If reports are correct Inter-Milan’s Martinez will be the easier of the two to sign. His club, it is understood, are prepared to accept players as part of the deal. Furthermore the asking price for him is not likely to be nearly as high as for Neymar.
To get some idea of their worth in the international soccer market it may help to look back at what was last paid for them.
Neymar cost PSG €222 million
Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris Sainti-Germain in 2017 reportedly cost the French Club €222 million. It made the 28-year-old the most expensive player ever.
The most recent fee paid for Martinez was €22.7 million. This was by Inter in mid-2018 when he moved to Europe for the first time.
However, the Argentine at 22 is six years younger than Neymar and was at an earlier stage in his career. His worth will have grown since then. And this is coming at a time when recent injuries and controversies may have reduced the value of Neymar.
Mind you when it comes to goal-scoring, Neymar, who has played 101 games for Brazil and scored 66 goals, heads Martinez in club goals this season.
He has netted 18 times in just 22 appearances for PSG. Martinez, who scored nine goals in his 17 matches for Argentina in 2018, has picked up 16 Inter goals in 31 games.
Transfer round-up
In other transfer news from around the globe we note:
- Manchester United could be turning to an old target. ESPN reports that the Premier League club are preparing to make a bid for Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt. That is if the Serie A giants are open to a sale this close season.
- Harry Kane’s future at Tottenham remains unclear. The ‘Daily Mail’ says Spurs are confident of keeping the forward despite him saying Monday he would not stay at the club “just for the sake of it”.
- It looks like Jadon Sancho’s move to Liverpool will not happen. The ‘Mirror’ claims the Premier League leaders are not targeting the Borussia Dortmund star, leaving United and Chelsea still in the chase.
- ‘Sport’ reports that Leicester City is interested in a loan deal with for playmaker Philippe Coutinho. The Barcelona player is currently on loan to Bayern Munich.
- Staying at Barca, Sport also reports that the Spanish club might likely make a move for to get Layvin Kursawa as a back-up for Jordi Alba. Kurzawa will be out of contract to PSG at the season’s end.
- Edinson Cavani will also be out of contract with PSG at the season’s end. However, ‘CalcioMercato’ reports the Uruguayan striker will not be joining Atletico Madrid, the club he has been linked to.
- With Alexis Sanchez set to return to Manchester United from his loan spell at Inter, ‘The Sun’ reports the club will be forced to pay the attacker a £1.1million loyalty payment.