Lautaro 2029: leadership, belonging and seven trophies with the Nerazzurri

This extraordinary journey has seen him grow, prove himself and become the Club captain and talisman for Inter. His journey will now continue, spurred on by hard work and a strong sense of belonging.

Lautaro Martinez and Inter are together until 2029. An extension is the natural result of six seasons at the Club, during which the Argentinian striker has made 282 appearances and scored 129 goals.

His story is inexorably linked to the Argentine port city of Bahia Blanca, where it all began. Lautaro was born on 22 August 1997 in a place where dynamism lives in the DNA of the local inhabitants. All things change day by day there, thanks to the sea that laps against the shoreline. He takes his inspiration from this perpetual motion, making determination and ceaseless hard work his primary traits.

His love story with the beautiful game began in Liniers. In his early years, he played in defence before discovering an ever-growing affinity for scoring goals, and for doing the unpredictable, as he rose to become one of the best strikers in world football.

He spent four seasons at Racing, where his Inter fairytale began; it was a sign of the times to come. On the day of his first-team debut for the club, it was Diego Milito, Inter's Principe, who gave him his chance. After developing in Argentina, he came to Inter and, in his first season (2018/19), he made 35 appearances, hitting the back of the net on nine occasions. He watched, studied, and learnt. Those who were born by the sea know full well: it's a tough place but it helps you to fear not what is beyond the horizon. His impact in an Inter shirt would only increase. He scored 21 goals in his second season and was a key figure as the Nerazzurri reached the Europa League final. The 2020/21 campaign culminated in his first major honour with the Club: Inter won their 19th Scudetto and Lautaro starred with 17 league goals and a big hand in the title.

His growth has been constant and is combined with an innate ability to rewrite the meaning of self-sacrifice in football, his greatest human quality. In his fourth year in an Inter shirt, he made 49 appearances and scored 25 important goals as the Nerazzurri won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.

The 2022/23 season was an exciting campaign with passion on show game by game and ended with two more major honours and a Champions League final appearance in Istanbul. He would score many big goals: in the Supercoppa final against AC Milan and the European derby against the Rossoneri, and a decisive brace in the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina. They all helped him on his way to 100 goals for the Club. He ended the season with 28 in 57 games, his best-ever tally in a single campaign.

Always ready to fight and always ready to defend the group, the team and his teammates. These characteristics go hand in hand with leadership and wearing the captain's armband. He possesses a flair for leadership and no small amount of generosity.

In the season ending with the Second Star, Lautaro Martinez wrote a new page in the Club's history, moving into Inter's top ten all-time goalscorers (currently eighth). He gave everyone a show with some spectacular goals: that curling left-footed effort against Atalanta, the finish against Juventus and a stunner against Bologna. He made it to 100 Serie A goals, reaching the milestone in the victory over Lecce, and ended the season as the league's top goalscorer on 24.

International football for Argentina has also been fruitful for Lautaro. In 2022, he did what every player dreams of: winning the World Cup. The year before, he had had a hand in the Albiceleste's Copa America title, a feat which they repeated this year, as he scored some huge goals for his country and won the Golden Boot. The biggest of them all was in the final against Colombia. He has scored 29 goals in 64 caps for Argentina.

At Inter, El Toro has won two Scudetti, two Coppa Italia titles and three Supercoppa Italiana titles. These victories stem from the courage of a captain who has forever left an indelible mark on the history of this Club, for which he has now made 250 appearances. And now, the story continues.