Lautaro Martinez WILL join Atletico Madrid and ‘pay him a lot of money’, according to Ventola

Lautaro Martinez will make a shock move to Atletico Madrid this summer, according to former Inter Milan striker Nicola Ventola.

The 23-year-old’s future at San Siro has been uncertain in recent weeks due to the crippling debt problem reportedly amounting to £548million that the new Serie A champions are suffering from.

Reports claim Inter’s board have asked their league champions to waive two months’ worth of wages to aid the club due to their financial plights. 

Lautaro Martinez (left) will join Atletico Madrid this summer, according to former Inter Milan striker Nicola Ventola (right)

Martinez’s future has been in doubt amid the club’s financial woes, with the squad reportedly asked to waive two weeks’ wages

That has led to fears of an exodus of Antonio Conte’s best players, which includes including Martinez despite the midweek rift between the duo after the Argentine was hauled off after coming on as a substitute for Alexis Sanchez against Roma.

And in an interview on Twitch with former Inter team-mate Christian Vieiri, Ventola claimed Martinez – who still has two years left on his deal – will link up with Diego Simeone’s men and be rewarded extremely well financially. 

‘I’m going to drop the bomb: a little bird has told me that Lautaro will play for Atlético Madrid,’ Ventola is quoted as saying by Spanish outlet AS.

That has led to fears of Antonio Conte’s best players including Martinez leaving the champions

‘They told me that everything is arranged and they are going to pay him a lot of money.’

Ventola’s comments also come amid other reports that Martinez and his new agent Alejandro Camano are in fact in talks to extend his deal and continue playing under Conte, with the duo having patched things up following their spat with a joke boxing match.

Atletico – who currently hold a two-point lead over city rivals Real Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table – were interested in Martinez when he was playing for Racing in his home country.

Ventola also claimed Martinez will be very well played when playing for Diego Simeone’s men

Reports at the time prior to his move to Inter suggested a deal worth around £10m (€12m) was close to being struck, but they will still have to fork out a significant amount more to prise him away now.

Reports in Italy state that despite Inter’s financial woes, they will not consider any bid below £69m (€80m) this summer. 

Martinez is also said to be on a four-man striker shortlist Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have drawn up to replace compatriot Sergio Aguero.