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.
Martínez 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. He was also a part of the Argentina side that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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 America in 2019, helping his team to a third place finish, and 2021, winning the latter edition of the tournament.
After initially playing as a central defender in his youth, Martínez later established himself as a forward, citing Radamel Falcao as one of his major influences. A dynamic, quick, agile, and technically gifted player, who is a prolific goalscorer, he is known for his elegant playing style, good dribbling skills, and clinical finishing ability, as well as surprising physical strength and aerial prowess despite his diminutive stature; however, he has also drawn criticism from pundits for his lack of accuracy from the penalty spot Possessing good link-up play, defensive contribution, and an ability to drop deep off the ball to either press opponents or drag them out of position, he is also a highly creative and hard-working player, who is capable of assisting goals as well as scoring them himself; as such, he is also able to play as a second striker, in addition to his usual role as either a centre-forward or out–and–out striker. Due to his leadership, tenacity, and mentality on the pitch, he has been nicknamed El Toro ("The Bull," in Spanish). In 2020, Spencer Rance of 90min.com considered Martínez to be one of the most promising young players in world football, while manager Mauricio Pochettino rated him as one of the best strikers in the world. Former Argentina and Inter striker Hernán Crespo likened Martínez to compatriot Sergio Agüero in 2020. |
