Barcelona 'poised to make one final effort to sign Lautaro Martinez'

Barcelona 'are primed to make one final effort to sign Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan' after player sales freed up funds.

Inter have not budged from their £90million valuation of the 23-year-old Argentine forward all summer.

That has proved prohibitive for Barcelona, whose finances have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a bloated squad they are trying to cut back.

But, according to Spanish newspaper Marca, the departures of Arturo Vidal, Nelson Semedo and Luis Suarez in recent days has allowed one last push.

The money raised from selling these three players, plus Arthur Melo and Ivan Rakitic, has enabled them to make a final offer for Martinez.

Marca say that around £64m has been cut from Barcelona's wage bill to accommodate Martinez's salary.

However, Barcelona know that if they meet Inter's asking price, they won't be able to strengthen in other areas prior to the deadline of October 5.

Ideally, Ronald Koeman would like to add depth at centre-back and right-back before the summer window closes.

Koeman would prefer Memphis Depay to Martinez, while Girona striker Cristhian Stuani has emerged as another option in attack.

Barcelona will kick-off their LaLiga season at home to Villarreal this Sunday evening following a summer of upheaval.

Not only has Koeman replaced Quique Setien as manager in the wake of their humiliating 8-2 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich, but the squad has been revamped.

Several players have departed, including Arthur, who signed for Juventus in a swap deal with Miralem Pjanic, and Suarez, who joined Atletico Madrid for £5.5m this week.