Marotta: Inter will sign a top player if Martinez leaves

Milan, June 9: Inter chief executive Giuseppe Marotta hopes Barcelona do not pay Lautaro Martinez's release clause but vowed to replace the forward with a star if he leaves.

Martinez has been linked with a move to the LaLiga giants, with Inter insisting the Argentina international's release clause of €111million will need to be paid.

Marotta again reiterated the Serie A side had no interest in selling Martinez, but said a star would be signed if the 22-year-old leaves.

"It is difficult to pronounce on his future at this moment, but I say to him – stay focused on the present, there is a season that resumes, there are goals to hit," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"There is no desire of the property to sell Lautaro. He is young, has the future of his own and is a functional element for [Antonio] Conte. Then, of course, there is a clause.

"I don't know what Barcelona think, maybe they will also have alternatives. I hope they don't pay the clause. If Lautaro [leaves], a top player will arrive.

"But in this market, at European level the real difficulty will not be having to buy, but being able to sell. I would say one thing in general – Neymar-style operations, in which one team goes and takes one player away from another, will not be seen for many years."

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Inter have been linked with a move for Edinson Cavani, whose contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires at the end of the season.

But Marotta said a deal for Cavani, who has scored seven goals in 22 games this season, was still some way off.

"It is one of the opportunities, it is being monitored as an expiring footballer," he said.

"But we did not go into the matter further: at the moment he is quite far from Inter."