Lautaro Martinez

[vuji_31]

I have four reasons for not wanting Lautaro.

1. Price. Even those who are in favour of his signing can probably agree that whatever Inter will ask for him is excessive and it will be also irresponsible from the club paying that sum in these uncertain times. Even without corona virus I'd be against another 100m signing but now more so. But since I'm 95% sure we'll buy him I hope we'll negotiate as good price as we can and possibly include players we don't want/need instead of those who could still be helpful or be sold for more on open market (Arthur, Semedo) than if included in a swap deal.

2. As long as Suarez is here he'll stay a starter and whichever striker we'll buy will need to play out of his best position. And I don't see Suarez leaving before 2022 or possibly 2023 together with Messi. I really hope to be wrong but iI believe if we'll buy Lautaro he'll be set to fail from the start, the same as Griezmann. Hopefully Suarez will leave or at least accept not starting 90%+ games anymore so we won't need to play Lautaro/Griezmann as wingers. But this is very unlikely.

3. I doubt he'll score enough. I don't care about forwards being good in link-up play, great passers or defensive workhorses if they can't do their primary job which is to score goals. That's why I want Haaland because I believe he's a killer infront of the goal and will score at every level/club he'll play for. On the other side Lautaro could be better in some aspects of the game so people will consider him as a better fit but I don't see him as someone who will score 30+ goals every season which is needed to replace Suarez. Really hope he'll prove me wrong.

4. I think it would be a much better use of our (probably limited) resources improving defense (CB) and midfield instead of buying another forward. We already have a good depth upfront. Hopefullly we'll still find a good CB and midfielder amongst cheaper alternatives we'll probably need to look after if we plan to splash big on Lautaro.

This is also my opinion. We have midfield that does not provide anything , and another striker like this which main power is defensive work rate...No thank you.

 

[JamDav1982]

I wouldn't comment on nationalities at all, since I don't believe THAT much in that theory, even though there are some patterns (like Dutch players).
But a user Mc Lovin mentioned that Lautaro is culturally a good fit.
So, my reaction was: wtf? What, he will like music, sun and beaches, so let's buy him?

In that sense, I posted this part that historically, from South American players, Argentinians weren't such a good fit for us, inspite of a similar culture.
And there was always a connection between Inter Milan and Argentinians, and AC Milan and Brasilians.
AC Milan always played with more flair while Inter played a more combative football.
In that sense, I would again say that Brasilian type of football is historically closer to Barca's light and seductive football.
Argentina, outside of Messi historically wasn't a good fit for Barca.

But one more time, my reply was a comment at Mc Lovin's post.

Btw, Larsson was only 175 cm tall, but he was one of the best target mans in a football history.
And quite a different player to a current idea of: a mobile no9 who plays far from the box and who is more involved in a build up than scoring.
Btw, as always, for younger fans, look at the amount of crazy header goals scored by King Henrik.
His finishing, jumps, headers and a presence in the box were like a cheating codes, lol.
And in 2020, we came to paying 110 millions for a guy who can't score shit. What happened to us?

Dont try and lecture me on Larsson and put up videos of him in Scotland when watched him here week in week out for years.

He had a good touch and good leap but he was not a 'target man' for Celtic let alone one of 'best in history'.

His best years at Celtic Sutton/Hartson were targetmen and Larsson played off them.

Celtic played a very direct style getting ball into box early but Larsson was not the 'target man' despite him being good in air and having a good touch.

Martinez from what I have seen has very good link up play and strong on ball more so for Argentina than Inter who play on break more and go for throat.

It is his finishing that looks a bit suspect more than anything else.

 

[malvolio]

It is his finishing that looks a bit suspect more than anything else.

well, he did finish in the camp nou

is not that lautaro would be ideal, there are hardly any good(worldclass potential) strikers around. what would you choose(that is feasible) from the list below?

or we could look into the 23-30 age bracket. personally i've always liked inaki williams, but don't know if he would be good enough.

 

[vuji_31]

Mbappe,Haaland,Jesus,M.Dembele ,Werner,Jiminez.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Wow. World lacks top goals scorers. I find those lists fairly depressing.

 

[malvolio]

Mbappe,Haaland,Jesus,M.Dembele ,Werner,Jiminez.

mbappe - we were never in for him. huge fee. would he want to leave? would paris sell? real would surely have the upper hand in case he leaves psg (case closed i think)
haaland - would he like to join us? would we want do deal with raiola? also he seems destined to play for a premier league club as i just don't see him in spain. too many unknowns
jesus - not the best player in man city(aguero/sterling are better forwards than him). blows hot and cold and never really showed like he would be worthwhile chasing, more so when you have to deal with city
dembele, werner - would be the right age as they have more experience. but i don't see them leading the line at barcelona, not even at other elite clubs for that matter. second tier clubs maybe.
jimenez - would be a stop gap due to his age and is not as if he has experience at big/elite clubs.

 

[vuji_31]

I am aware of their flaws, but from the list I think this are best options.

 

[Messi983]

If we can't get Haaland I'd risk with Isak (he's already adapted to La Liga), Osimhen, Malen or Boadu for around half of Lautaro's price. There is no guarantee anyone of them would make it but Lautaro is far from a sure bet as well.

Another solution is trying to find a new Suarez, Lewa,... before another big club or "developmental and selling" teams like Dortmund and Ajax get their hands on him. Lewa who is arguably the best pure 9 over the last decade was a nobody for most people when Dortmund signed him in 2010 for less than 5m. Sure, those 5m in todays market are more like 20 or 30m but that's still much better than buying "proven" players for 100m.

Maybe we should ask ourselves who will Dortmund buy for "cheap" next year when they'll sell Haaland and buy that guy instead of them and give him time to develop (we'll be bad for a few years anyway after Messi leaves). Maybe this will work, maybe it won't but it can't be worse than trying to do the same thing for the fourth or fifth time and expect different results.

 

[Riordon]

Please not this guy. I have explained before why I dont want him here. Lately I have been thinking about Raul Jimenez from Wolves as our 9, he is a true 9 and I think he would be fantastic in your team.

You can get Sane, Upamecano, Werner for the price of Lautaro in this market, I know what a smart club would do.

 

[Porque]

I don't have a problem with Lautaro's scoring numbers if he has the right scoring support from AMR and AML. Firmino is testament to that with a 1 goal in 3 but enabling Mane and Salah to rack up the numbers. We're OK with Messi but lack our "Mane".

Bigger problem is the asking price and that we might go with Lautaro-Suarez-Messi for a season. If so, whats the point of this deal this season. Better get the big lump Gaich to be Suarez backup in that case and blow the budget on a proper AML with technique goals and pace like Sancho.

 

[JamDav1982]

Please not this guy. I have explained before why I dont want him here. Lately I have been thinking about Raul Jimenez from Wolves as our 9, he is a true 9 and I think he would be fantastic in your team.

You can get Sane, Upamecano, Werner for the price of Lautaro in this market, I know what a smart club would do.

Jiminez would cost a fortune is 29 and already been in la liga and didnt go well.

He excels in a Wolves team that plays on break and gets balls in from wide early. Exact opposite of what he would get at Barca.

Decent player but not enough reasons for Barca to go for him.

 

[Riordon]

Jiminez would cost a fortune is 29 and already been in la liga and didnt go well.

He excels in a Wolves team that plays on break and gets balls in from wide early. Exact opposite of what he would get at Barca.

Decent player but not enough reasons for Barca to go for him.

Yea but he offers something different which i think we haven't had since peak Suarez. Lautaro too much in the mold of what we already have IMO. The dream would be Haaland though. I like Jimenez too because our next striker should be the Jimenez/Haaland type IMO.

 

[JamDav1982]

Yea but he offers something different which i think we haven't had since peak Suarez. Lautaro too much in the mold of what we already have IMO. The dream would be Haaland though.

One of if not the biggest reason Barca will be after Martinez is how well he plays with Messi for Argentina and that he offers a threat decent threat physically and from balls into box.

Would rather that Lautaro with Messi for Argentina than Jiminez every time.

111m is far too much and Barca wont pay that but he is a better player than a lot are making out from what I have seen which admittedly others may have seen more of.

From watching Inter and Argentina he looks like he suits the way he plays with Messi more than Inter two man attack on break.

 

[JamDav1982]

I don't have a problem with Lautaro's scoring numbers if he has the right scoring support from AMR and AML. Firmino is testament to that with a 1 goal in 3 but enabling Mane and Salah to rack up the numbers. We're OK with Messi but lack our "Mane".

Bigger problem is the asking price and that we might go with Lautaro-Suarez-Messi for a season. If so, whats the point of this deal this season. Better get the big lump Gaich to be Suarez backup in that case and blow the budget on a proper AML with technique goals and pace like Sancho.

I agree and dont think Lautaro should sign for Barca with Suarez there as he will be a back up or pushed out of position and expected to run for Messi and Suarez.

Far too many good players are signed then play as more structure players for the older legs to get freedom and Martinez most likely be the next one if he signs.

 

[Riordon]

My first choice for the CF is Haaland but think he will eventually go to the Prem. After that, I really like Jimenez aswell. But he is a bit old. Among the younger guys, only Osimhen has this profile so I would honestly go for him instead of Lautaro/Werner etc.

A 9 should be a 9.