The making of Lautaro Martinez

Should the g be completed this summer, Lautaro Martinez would arrive at Barcelona as an established player among Europe's elite.

The striker has spent the last season impressing with his displays for Inter and is now being touted for a move to the Camp Nou.

Lautaro was born in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, and started his footballing career with local team Liniers.

"His family is from the neighbourhood where I was born, although he played for another club in Bahia Blanca - Liniers - a club that always took good care of their academy," Argentine coach Angel Cappa told MARCA.

"He's a powerful and quick striker who is good in the air and with both feet.

"He goes after everything with a tremendous will and he never gives up.

"He uses both feet and he can cut in from either side without any problem.

"He has decent technical ability, but, look, he's still improving and he still needs to find space in order to escape defenders.

"Where he plays in Italy contributes very little to his development.

"He's a player who has all the attributes to be a good player as well was a goalscorer.

"He just needs a bit of direction to fulfil his potential."

His idol

Lautaro became an icon at Racing Club, just like his own idol.

That was former Boca Juniors and Argentina international forward Chelo Delgado.

"He's a great and young player who has an incredible future," Chelo told MARCA.

"I have no doubt that, if he goes to Barcelona, he's going to be a hit.

"He's a goalscorer, he plays well... he's got it all."

His father

Lautaro has been given the right guidance by those closest to him, especially his father Mario Jose Martinez.

"I think he's got to the elite because of his positive mindset," Mario Jose told MARCA.

"Since he was a kid, he's had clear objectives and a really clear dream of playing at the top.

"Mind you, he's always done it step by step with short-term objectives to be able to achieve them at the time and knowing that everything is based on effort, respect and humility."

Coming through at Racing

During his time at Racing, Lautaro emerged as one of the hottest properties in South America and almost ed Atletico Madrid before moving to Inter.

Manuel Fernandez, who now coaches Agropecuario in Argentina's second tier, coached Lautaro at Racing and compared him to one of his compatriots.

"Lautaro mirrors [Sergio] Aguero in his play," he told MARCA.

"He can play out wide, he can play as a lone striker, he can drop deep to link up, he has a low centre of gravity, he's very technical, he's good with both feet... I see a lot of similarity to Kun Aguero."

Diego Godin, Lautaro's teammate at Inter, also compared him to another top South American striker.

"He has things that Luis Suarez and Aguero have."