Lautaro Martínez

At 26 years old, Lautaro Martínez has this physical status:

Lautaro Javier Martínez (born 22 August 1997) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Argentina national team. Considered one of the best strikers in the world, he is known for his speed, strength and finishing.

Lautaro began his football career in his native Argentina, where he made his senior debut in 2015 with Racing Club. There he spent four seasons and represented the club in the league and Copa Libertadores, scoring 28 goals in 60 appearances before joining Inter in 2018, where he won the Serie A title in his third season with the club.

Lautaro also previously represented Argentina at various youth levels and competed at the 2017 South American U-20 Championship and 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He made his senior international debut in 2018, and represented the senior squad at the Copa América in 2019, helping his team to a third place finish, and 2021, winning the latter edition of the tournament.

Source

Club career

Martnez was born in Bahia Blanca. He followed in his father's footsteps to become a professional footballer, playing for local side Liniers, with whom he excelled at U17 level. In the final of the National Cup in 2013, he scored 13 goals and netted, but Liniers lost on penalties to Rosario on penalties.

Martnez's success at youth piqued the attention of Racing Club interim coach Fabio Radaelli, who later signed him in January 2014. Martnez started feeling homesickness and wanted to return to his hometown soon after joining the club. He was eventually convinced by colleague Braian Mansilla to stay on and went on to score 53 goals in 64 appearances for the club's reserve team. A deal was concluded between Racing Club and Spanish side Real Madrid for Martnez's signature in 2015, but the club refused to remain in Argentina. Mario later revealed that he decided to stay with Racing because he was not ready to leave the team. In a 3–0 victory over Crucero del Norte on November 1, 2015, his league debut came as a second-half replacement for Diego Milito. He was dismissed for the first time in his career after racking up two bookings in the space of five minutes in a 2–2 draw with Argentinos on Saturday. In a 1–1 draw with Huracán in November, he scored his first goal later this year, netting the opener.

Martnez played more senior roles in the 2016-17 season after suffering injuries to regular starting striker Lisandro López, scoring 9 goals in 23 league appearances. During the first half of the following season, he continued to lead the line for Racing, but Atlético Madrid's In December 2017, he underwent a medical. Martnez had signed for Atlético Madrid, according to reports, but Racing later revealed that he had signed a renewed deal that included an enhanced release clause. They also chastised their Spanish contemporaries for admitting him to a medical facility without their authorization. He ended the year with a man of the match appearance, scoring once and assisting another in a 3–1 victory over Gimnasia. On his Copa Libertadores debut against Brazilian side Cruzeiro on February 27, he scored three times on his second hat-trick of the season. Racing took the match 4–2.

Martnez was linked to a transfer to Inter Milan in the same month, but Racing Club President Victor Blanco confirmed that the transfer had proceeded through on May 5th. Martnez was due to join Inter ahead of the 2018-19 Serie A campaign, but Blanco said he would keep him on loan until December 2018 in order for the striker to continue to play in the Argentine side's Copa Libertadores campaign.

Martnez officially joined Inter on July 4th, 2018 for a reported fee of €22.7 million, and he signed a five-year deal with the club. In a 3–0 friendly victory over Swiss club Lugano, he made his unofficial debut ten days later and scored twice on his first day. His complete debut came after he started against Sassuolo in the first week on August 19th. He scored his first league goal against Cagliari, the first goal of a 2–0 victory over San Siro on September 29th.

Martnez scored his first European goal on February 14, 2019, scoring a penalty to help Inter beat Rapid Wien in the first leg of the 2018-19 Europa League round of 32. He got off to a good start in every match following Mauro Icardi's abstence due to personal reasons. Martnez first assisted Matas Vecino's header before scoring himself a penalty in the second half, helping Inter win 3–2; Inter also gained their first league double over them since 2011–12 seasons.

Martnez scored his first goal in UEFA Champions League on October 2nd, beating Barcelona 2–1 away in group stage; he became the first player since Roberto Boninsegna in 1970 to score at Camp Nou for Inter. Martnez scored a brace against Slavia Prague in 3–1 away victory in 2002, Hernán Crespo in 2002, Lionel Messi in 2005, and Sergio Agüero in 2013) in four consecutive Champions League games, breaking four milestones since his debut in the competition (after Hernán Crespo in 2002, Christian Vieri in 2003, and Samuel Eto'o in 2010). Martnez scored a brace in a 5–0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on August 17, 2020, progressing to the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final. Martnez scored against Liverpool on 1-0 victory at Anfield on March 8, 2022, marking Inter's first Champions League knockout goal in 3,647 days.

International career

Martnez debuted at Argentina in 2017, and he finished as the tournament's joint top scorer with five goals, helping Argentina qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

He was later selected in the World Cup team, which began in May this year. After being struck by a knee in a warm-up match against Vietnam, he sustained damage to his nasal cartilage during the tournament's build-up. He started Argentina's first match against England from the bench but was later dismissed after video technology revealed that he had struck out at Fikayo Tomori. He became the first player to be suspended after a video message, and Argentina lost the match 3–0. On his return from a 5–0 victory over Guinea, he had a brace, but his efforts were insufficient to prevent Argentina from being barred from the group stage.

Martnez received his first call-up for his senior squad's two friendly matches against Italy and Spain on March 12, 2018. On March 27, he made his debut against the latter in a 6–1 loss, while Gonzalo Higua's came as a replacement for him. He was named in Argentina's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia in May 2018, but was left out of the final team. He made his full debut in a 4–0 friendly win over Iraq, in which he also scored his first senior international goal.

Martnez was named in Lionel Scaloni's final 23-man Argentina squad for the 2019 Copa América in May 2019. He scored the opening goal in Argentina's last group match against Qatar on June 23rd, allowing the team to advance to the knock-out stages of the tournament. Martnez scored the opening goal in an eventual 2–0 victory over Venezuela in the first ten minutes of the game on June 28th, and the tie was later named Man of the match.

Martnez scored his first international hat-trick in a friendly against Mexico on September 10, which Argentina defeated 4–0.

He scored Argentina's last goal in a 4–1 victory over Bolivia in his country's last group match of the 2021 Copa América on June 28th. In a 3–0 victory over Ecuador in the quarterfinals of the tournament, he scored his second goal on July 3rd. Martnez scored the first goal in a 1–1 draw in the semi-finals against Colombia on July 6th; he later scored his spot kick in Argentina's eventual 3–2 penalty shoot-out victory to advance to the final on July 6.

Martinez scored the first goal and provided an assist to ngel Di Mara in a 3–0 victory over reigning European Champions Italy in the 2022 Finalissima at Wembley Stadium.

Source