During the special of Sky Sports dedicated to Lautaro Martinez, his father Mario Martinez thus recounted the beginnings of the striker who recently became Italian champion with Inter: “As a child we called him Maravilla or Pelusita, since I am called Pelusa. At Racing he showed off his power, from here and from the celebration with crossed hands the nickname Toro was born. The mother in the family is the one who suffered the most from the separation from Lautaro, it’s a bit like they stole your son. I remember that sometimes she would go to see his room and put a table a plate for him too, knowing that that plate would remain empty. It was hard at the beginning, but we knew that Lautaro dreamed of being a footballer and that he was on the verge of making it.”
On choosing Inter in 2018: “There were at least a dozen teams interested, or who had made an offer. However, we have always been calm, we have always discussed ourselves as a family, making the best decision. When Inter presented its concrete proposal, it did not we didn’t doubt for a moment. It’s not for everyone to be the captain of a top team like the Nerazzurri. Today my son can command the dressing room, motivate his teammates, speak to the teams before the matches… He has the personality to do all this and I feel really proud of him. Nobody gave him anything to have this privilege.”