Lautaro Martinez launched a scathing attack at an unnamed player after Inter's Club World Cup exit, but Hakan Calhanoglu was revealed as the target.
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Martinez says no one is forced to stay at InterMarotta confirms the jab was aimed at CalhanogluPlaymaker linked with Galatasaray moveFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Inter crashed out of the Club World Cup with a 2-0 defeat to Brazilian side Fluminense at the round of 16 on Monday. After the dismal display by the Champions League runners-up, Martinez blasted at least one of his team-mates without specifying who, suggesting they leave the club. Calhanoglu was left out of the squad altogether for Monday's clash and hasn't featured for the team at the Club World Cup.
"The message is clear: whoever wants to stay, stay, whoever doesn't want to stay must go," he said. "We are fighting for an important shirt and we have to fight for important goals… I won't name names. We are here to do everything, but I saw many things that I didn't like. So as captain, as group leader, then there is the coach first, but I have to say it because that's who I am. I'm on one side or the other: I want to fight for the goals because we are a great team, we have returned to the top and I want to continue."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Despite his attempt to keep his target anonymous, Inter president Marotta later confirmed the jab was aimed at Calhanoglu, who has been vocal about his interest in moving to Galatasaray. Marotta suggested that the playmaker will be moving on when they find an amicable solution to his situation.
He told : "I interpret [Martinez's] words positively, Lautaro as captain has highlighted some suppositions and some truths. One thing I always say, if a player wants to leave, it's right that he goes. There is no one who has concretely expressed this intention, he was perhaps referring to Calhanoglu but it is part of the end-of-season dynamics that we have always faced calmly.
"We will talk to Calhanoglu and we will deal with it in the best way for the interests of Inter and his team. This call from Lautaro is shared by the club, this must be the winning spirit that can take us far. Calhanoglu's drop in interest? No, we must thank him for what he has done."
Watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZNStream nowTHE CALHANOGLU SITUATION
Calhanoglu, 31, looks set to leave San Siro this summer, with Galatasaray openly flirting with him. The Turkish champions' president recently confirmed he had spoken to the ex-AC Milan player, though he insisted he was not tapping him up for a summer transfer.
"Calhanoglu is the light of our eyes. He is our pride, the captain of the national team, an important and successful player," Dursun Ozbek said. "Every team would like him. My meeting with Hakan, however, was not a market meeting. I was with a friend, a group of friends were talking on the phone with Hakan and when they saw me they passed me the phone. We said hello, he told me that he has been a Galatasaray fan since he was a child."
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR INTER?
With Inter exiting the Club World Cup at the round of 16, they will now return to Italy while players will break before returning for pre-season. Meanwhile Calhanoglu will await further developments between Inter and Galatasaray before having a clear idea about his future.