The B€st: the ranking that Lautaro Martínez leads in this Copa América :: Olé

Is valuable. The numbers mark it. And also the gestures they dedicate to him: Lionel Messi’s decision to give the penalty to Lautaro Martínez against Guatemala was nothing more than an enormous emotional assistance. A sign of confidence for a forward who has a Copa América on the horizon to endorse – as if it were necessary – the conditions that have transformed him into the most expensive center forward in the competition and one of the three best-priced strikers on planet Earth.

“I can sit at the table of the grandes,” Lautaro said two weeks ago in dialogue with La Gazzetta dello Sport. The market gives him the right: according to the estimates of the specialized site Transfermarkt, his sky-high market value (€110,000,000) is barely surpassed by €70 million by those of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé. Even, in addition to being the most expensive player of the Argentine National Team, within Conmebol, his market value is #3 – he is surpassed by Vinicius Jr (second striker, € 180 million) and Federico Valverde (midfielder, € 120 million) – and He is first in his position, escorted by Julián Álvarez (€ 90 million) and very, very far from the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez (€ 120 million).

Only the result/Argentina/football idiosyncrasy explains that a talent of such talent, who comes from being a scorer in Serie A (24 goals), who scored 27 in all competitions and who is close to signing his contract extension with Inter until 2028. However, a sector that exceeds its critical gaze objects to the Bull as #9 of the National Team, Still hammering him that he went 16 consecutive games (including the seven in the World Cup in Qatar) without scoring, as if he were not the second scorer of the Scaloni era behind Messi. Or if his precise shot in the stressful definition against the Netherlands had not contributed to qualification for the semi-finals…

That’s why the value of the penalty awarded by Leo. And also the pass-goal that he gave him for his double in the Major League. The X 2 pack was nutritious, especially ahead of the Copa América, to further support a player who suffered greatly from the time he spent without scoring. “The topic made me nervous and anxious,” Lautaro recognized after interrupting the counter at 777 minutes without converting. The man from Bahia suffered more than any other during those 550 days in which he was denied the cry: he took refuge in his companions and his family. And he overcame it to, now, continue that sprint of goals that was interrupted in 2022.

He is worth a lot, Lautaro, in a group that values ​​him and in which he maintains healthy competition with Julián Álvarez. His story certifies why Scaloni himself de-dramatized that archived pothole. In the United States 2024, Martínez wants to continue climbing Argentina’s scoring table: with 24 goals, against Guatemala he surpassed René Pontoni and Daniel Alberto Passarella in the ranking and was six behind Ángel Di María, eight behind Diego Armando Maradona and ten by Gonzalo Higuaín. Its metrics also allow us to project that it will achieve and surpass them. Yes, in his cycle in the Major League he kicked 32 times at three posts and only eight of them did not end up inside. If one in every 3.5 shots attempted ended in celebration.

Lautaro is a valuable player. This is marked by the euros in which he is quoted and also by the support that his team has shown him, with Messi as the maximum reference. Bull is said.