Erling Haaland is not the only centre forward expecting to fulfil his destiny in Istanbul on Saturday.
From Hernan Crespo to Diego Milito to Mauro Icardi, Inter Milan have always had a soft spot for Argentine strikers – and in current No 10 Lautaro Martinez, they might just have found the best of the lot.
Quick, strong, brave and effective both in the air and on the ground, Martinez – nicknamed ‘The Bull’ – is the greatest danger to Manchester City as they try to win the Champions League for the first time in their history.
‘He is one of the best players in the world and he is a World Cup winner,’ said Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana. ‘I hope he will be on fire for us because we need him on top form. It will be very important for us.’
Forget his misfiring displays at the World Cup, when Martinez began the tournament as one of the favourites to win the Golden Boot but ended it on the bench.
Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez will be Manchester City’s biggest Champions League final threat
Quick, strong and deadly in the box, Martinez (pictured on the floor) is now a firm Inter hero
Pep Guardiola will have to plot to find a way to silence Martinez, nicknamed ‘The Bull’
Seven games is far too small a sample size by which to judge a player and had Martinez’s strike in Argentina’s opener against Saudi Arabia not been ruled out by the most marginal of VAR offside calls, who knows how different it might have been for him in Qatar.
Concentrate instead on the way the 25-year-old leads the line for Inter. Look at how he is an effective partner for both Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko, two very different types of strikers. Focus on his 21 goals in Serie A, second only to Victor Osimhen, whose 26 helped Napoli secure their first league title since 1990 and only the third in their history.
No wonder Lionel Messi wanted to bring Martinez to Barcelona four years ago and why Messi’s great friend Luis Suarez called him ‘a special striker with fantastic movement.’
Martinez’s progress is all the more impressive when you consider that when he joined Inter for about £22million in 2018, he had fewer than three years’ senior football behind him, and no experience of the European game.
Indeed, he was close to dedicating himself to basketball, rather than football, at the age of 15. ‘I love basketball,’ he told Argentine magazine El Grafico in a 2017 interview. ‘At 15, I had to choose and I went with football but if I hadn’t made it, I’d have played basketball. I’d rather watch a basketball game than a football match.’
Martinez should not be judged by his World Cup form, with seven games too small a sample
The forward has struck up an effective combination with Romelu Lukaku (pictured above)
When Crespo joined Inter in 2002 to replace the great Brazilian, Ronaldo, he had been a regular scorer for Parma and Lazio for six years. Milito had scored 24 goals for Genoa the season before he joined Inter, while Icardi’s star had risen sharply during two years at Sampdoria. When they bought these Argentines, Inter knew what they were getting.
As for Martinez, many doubted whether he would succeed in Europe at all. Not because of his ability, which was never in question, but because of his attachment to his homeland.
It had been a wrench for the young Lautaro, then 16, to leave his home city of Bahia Blanca, to the south-west of Buenos Aires, and travel nearly 400 miles to the capital to join Racing Club. He missed his old life so much that he considered abandoning his new one in order to be back with friends and family again.
‘I wanted to go back to Bahia,’ Martinez recalled. ‘I am very family-orientated and I missed everything, especially my older brother, Alan. We did everything together – we went to school, we went out, we trained together.
‘It was very hard to leave him, especially as he had health problems just when I was left, so the combination of everything made me feel bad. Luckily, my family and Racing Club supported me a lot.’
Helping his side to victory in Istanbul would further cement Martinez’s key status in Milan
There were similar ‘sliding doors’ moments in Martinez’s early career. According to his father, Mario, Lautaro could have joined Real Madrid in 2015 but decided to remain in Argentina. Two years later, he came close to joining Atletico Madrid, only to stay put at Racing once again as the club increased his release clause.
Those near-misses allowed Inter to strike an outstanding piece of business. Tottenham bid £60million two years ago but Martinez’s ceiling is far higher. If he leaves Inter, it would be to join another potential Champions League winner.
Yet the longer he stays at Inter, the harder it will be to leave. Next season will be Martinez’s sixth in blue and black and he has captained the side this term. He has become a ‘bandiera’ – the term used by Italian fans to describe long-serving club heroes – which would make any departure hugely tricky.
Victory on Saturday would elevate Martinez even higher in Inter supporters’ affections. City may be overwhelming favourites but to realise their dream, Pep Guardiola must stop the Bull from taking the game by the horns.
