You can't keep Lautaro is he wants to leave - Former Inter Milan president, Moratti

Former Inter Milan president, Massimo Moratti has said that Martinez Lautaro cannot be kept at the club if he wants to leave.

Lautaro is currently linked with a move to Barcelona to join Argentine compatriot Lionel Messi.

However, Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio has said that Lautaro can only leave the club if he's signed for €111 million ($124m), his buyout clause.

Moratti told Sportmediaset: "You can't hold someone who has the idea of ??being somewhere else.

"That would put him in a position to remain involuntarily or, in any case with a different impulse, in the same place."

Ausilio has said that the exit clause must be met before Lautaro can be signed despite Barcelona offering other players in exchange for the Argentine.

"As far as Martinez is concerned, there is only one way that he will leave Inter and that is by paying his clause," Ausilio told Sky Italia, "A clause that everyone knows – there is no point in hiding – is demanding, because it has both deadlines and commitments that must be kept very precise.

"It is a clause that expires in the early part of July so it won't last for a long time. And it is the only possibility that exists to take Lautaro away from Inter today."

Ausilio believes players like Lautaro are the future of Inter Milan.

"He is an important asset of the club, and let's not forget that he still has a three-year contract with Inter," Ausilio said.

"Inter are not going to sell their most important players. We intend to keep them and eventually strengthen in the transfer market, and this also applies to Lautaro."