*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:24, 19 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024
Lautaro Javier Martínez (born 22 August 1997), better known as Lautaro, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays primarily as a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan, which he captains, and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Martínez is known for his prolific goalscoring, link-up play, and positioning inside the box.[8]
Martínez was born in Bahía Blanca. He followed in his father's footsteps to become a professional footballer, joining local side Liniers, with whom he excelled at U–17 level.[9] In 2013, he scored 13 goals in the U–17 league and netted in the final of the National Cup, though Liniers ultimately lost on penalties to Rosario.[10][11]
Racing Club
Martínez's form at youth level caught the attention of Racing Club interim coach Fabio Radaelli who subsequently signed him in January 2014.[10] Soon after joining the club, Martínez began suffering from homesickness and wanted to return to his hometown. He was ultimately convinced by teammate Braian Mansilla to stay and went on to score 53 goals in 64 appearances for the club's reserve side.[9] In 2015, a deal was concluded between Racing Club and Spanish side Real Madrid for Martínez's signature but he chose to remain in Argentina. Martínez's father, Mario later revealed that he chose to stay with Racing at the time as he was not ready to leave the club.[12] His league debut followed on 1 November 2015 when he came on as a second-half substitute for Diego Milito in a 3–0 win over Crucero del Norte.[13] On 17 April 2016, he was sent off for the first time in his career after picking up two bookings in the space of five minutes in a 2–2 draw with Argentinos.[9] He scored his first goal later that year, netting the opener in a 1–1 draw with Huracán in November.[9]
Following an injury to regular starting striker Lisandro López, Martínez assumed a more senior role for the 2016–17 season, scoring 9 goals in 23 league appearances for the campaign.[9][14] He continued to lead the line for Racing during the first half of the following season and in December 2017 underwent a medical with La Liga side Atlético Madrid.[15] Reports followed that Martínez had signed for Atlético Madrid side but Racing later announced that he had signed a renewed contract which included an increased release clause. They also criticised their Spanish contemporaries for submitting him to a medical without their permission.[15][16] He ended the year with a man of the match performance, scoring once and assisting another in a 3–1 win over Gimnasia.[17] On 27 February, he scored his second hat-trick of the season when he scored three times on his Copa Libertadores debut against Brazilian side Cruzeiro. Racing won the match 4–2.[18]
That same month, Martínez was linked with a transfer to Italian side Inter Milan and on 5 May Racing Club President Victor Blanco confirmed that the sale had gone through. Blanco indicated that Martínez was set to join Inter ahead of the 2018–19 Serie A campaign but that he would attempt to keep him on loan until December 2018 in order for the striker to continue to participate in the Argentine side's Copa Libertadores campaign.[19][20]
Martínez officially joined Inter on 4 July 2018 for a reported fee of €22.7 million and he signed a five-year contract with the club.[21] He made his unofficial debut ten days later and scored in a 3–0 friendly win over Swiss club, Lugano.[22] His full debut followed on 19 August when he started in a 1–0 Serie A loss to Sassuolo in the opening week.[23] He scored his first league goal against Cagliari, the opener of a 2–0 win at San Siro on 29 September.[24]
Martínez scored his first European goal on 14 February 2019, netting a penalty to help Inter win against Rapid Wien, in the first leg of 2018–19 UEFA Europa Leagueround of 32.[25] Following this match, he began to start in every match, profiting from Mauro Icardi's absence for personal reasons.[26] In his first Derby della Madonnina match against city rivals Milan, Martínez first assisted Matías Vecino's header before scoring himself a penalty in the second half, helping Inter to win 3–2;[27] Inter retook the third place in Serie A,[28] and also achieved the first league double over them since 2011–12 season.[29]
On 2 October 2019, Lautaro Martínez scored his first goal in UEFA Champions League in a 2–1 away defeat to Barcelona in group stage;[30] he became the first player since Roberto Boninsegna in 1970 to score at Camp Nou for Inter.[31] Later in the competition, by scoring a brace in a 3–1 away win against Slavia Prague, Martínez reached two milestones: he became only the fourth Inter player (after Hernán Crespo in 2002, Christian Vieri in 2003 and Samuel Eto'o in 2010) and the fifth Argentinian player (after Hernan Crespo in 2002, Lionel Messi in six occasions, Sergio Agüero in 2019 and Ezequiel Lavezzi in 2013) to score in four consecutive Champions League games.[32][33] On 17 August 2020, Martínez scored a brace in a 5–0 win against Shakhtar Donetsk to reach the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final.[34] On 8 March 2022, Martínez scored against Liverpool in a 1–0 victory at Anfield, marking Inter's first Champions League knockout goal in 3,600 days.[35]
On 16 May 2023, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over rivals Milan in the Champions League semi-final second leg, which secured a 3–0 win on aggregate for his club and qualification to the Champions League Final for the first time since 2010.[36] On 24 May, he scored a brace in a 2–1 victory over Fiorentina, to achieve his second consecutive Coppa Italia.[37]
Martínez began the 2023–24 season, his sixth with the club, as the first choice striker, albeit once again without his strike partner Romelu Lukaku after he returned to Chelsea finishing the end of his loan spell. Martínez began the season with an immediate impact for Inter, scoring both goals in a 2–0 home win over Monza on the first match day, and then scoring Inter's second goal the following week in another 2–0 win away against Cagliari.
On 30 September 2023, after replacing Alexis Sánchez in the 55th minute of Inter's 4–0 win against Salernitana, Martínez became the first player in Serie A history to score 4 goals as a substitute.[38] On 25 February 2024, Martínez scored twice in a 4–0 away league win against Lecce, the first goal was his 100th Serie A goal and the second was his 22nd league goal of the season (with only 23 games played), surpassing his personal record of most league goals in a season.[39] Martínez eventually won the capocannoniere award in the 2023–24 season, finishing as the top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals.[40] He also won the Serie A MVP for the season.[41]
He was subsequently named in the squad for the World Cup which kicked off in May that year. In the build-up to the tournament, he suffered damage to his nasal cartilage after being struck by a knee in a warm-up match against Vietnam.[42] As a result of the injury, he started Argentina's opening match at the tournament against England from the bench and was later sent off after video technology indicated that he had lashed out at Fikayo Tomori. Upon doing so, he became the first ever player to be dismissed after a video referral, and Argentina ultimately lost the match 3–0.[42][43][44] On his return, he scored a brace in a 5–0 win over Guinea, though his goals were not enough to prevent Argentina from being eliminated from the group-stages.[42][45]
Senior team
On 12 March 2018, Martínez received his first call-up for the senior team for two friendly matches against Italy and Spain.[46] He made his debut against the latter on 27 March, coming on as a substitute for Gonzalo Higuaín in a 6–1 defeat.[47] In May 2018 he was named in Argentina's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but was omitted from the final selection.[48][49] Later that year, he made his full debut in a 4–0 friendly win over Iraq during which he also scored his first senior international goal.[50]
In May 2019, Martínez was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 23-man Argentina squad for the 2019 Copa América.[51] In Argentina's final group match against Qatar on 23 June, he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win, which enabled them to advance to the knock-out stages of the competition.[52] On 28 June, in the quarter-finals of the tournament, Martínez scored the opening goal in an eventual 2–0 win over Venezuela with a back-heel in the opening ten minutes of the match; he was later named Man of the match, and the victory enabled Argentina to advance to the semi-finals of the competition.[53]
On 10 September 2019, Martínez scored his first international hat-trick in a friendly against Mexico, which Argentina won, 4–0.[54]
On 28 June 2021, he scored Argentina's final goal in a 4–1 win over Bolivia in his nation's final group match of the 2021 Copa América.[55] On 3 July, he scored the second goal in a 3–0 win over Ecuador in the quarter-finals of the competition.[56] On 6 July, Martínez scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw in the semi-finals against Colombia; he later netted his spot kick in Argentina's eventual 3–2 penalty shoot-out victory to progress to the final.[57][58]
Martínez was included in the final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup by Lionel Scaloni. Although he was struggling with an ankle injury, he started the initial two games of the tournament, having a goal disallowed for offside in Argentina's opening 2–1 defeat to Saudi Arabia, before being dropped from the starting lineup for Julián Álvarez, and would come off the bench for the remainder of the tournament, going scoreless throughout the competition.[60][61][62] On 9 December 2022, during the quarter-final, Martínez scored the winning penalty in Argentina's 4–3 shoot-out victory against the Netherlands to send his side into the semi-finals.[63] On 18 December, during the final, he replaced Álvarez in extra-time as Argentina defeated France, 4–2, in the penalty shoot-out after the match ended 3–3 in extra-time to win the World Cup.[64]
At the 2024 Copa América, Martínez scored Argentina's second goal in the team's opening 2–0 win over Canada.[65] He followed this up with the only goal of the match in a win against Chile, which allowed Argentina to advance to the knock-out stages.[66] In Argentina's final group match against Peru, he scored both goals in a 2–0 win.[67] In the final against Colombia, Martínez scored the only goal in the 112th minute of the game during extra time, putting Argentina up 1–0, and eventually winning them the tournament. With his 5 goals in the tournament, he was awarded the Golden Boot as the competition's top goalscorer.[68]
Style of play
Martínez initially played as a defender in his youth and later switched to a forward, citing Radamel Falcao as one of his influences.[69] A quick and agile player, he is known for his dribbling skills, his prolific goalscoring, his positioning in the box, and his physical strength and aerial prowess despite not being particularly tall;[70][71][72] however, he has been criticised by pundits for his lack of accuracy when taking penalties.[73] He also possesses good link-up play and defensive work-rate, and is capable of assisting goals in addition to scoring goals himself;[72][74][75] because of this, he can also play as a second striker, aside from his usual role as a striker.[76][77][78] Due to his leadership and winning mentality, he has been nicknamed El Toro ("The Bull," in Spanish).[79][80] In 2020, Spencer Rance of 90min.com regarded Martínez as one of the most promising young players,[81] while manager Mauricio Pochettino regarded him as one of the best strikers of his generation.[82] Former Argentina and Inter striker Hernán Crespo likened Martínez to compatriot Sergio Agüero in 2020.[83]
Personal life
Since 2016, Martínez has been in a relationship with Agustina Gandolfo, an Argentine entrepreneur and fitness trainer.[84] On 27 May 2023, they got married in Villa d'Este (Cernobbio) on Lake Como, Italy.[85] On 1 February 2021, their first daughter Nina was born. On 7 August 2023, their son Theo was born.
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