Racing Club's junior president Adrián Rubén Fernández says Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will be good for Lautaro Martinez.

The Inter Milan striker is a top target for Barca this summer - and was first discovered by Fernandez, who took him to Racing.

Fernandez revealed to Sport: "I will never forget it ... It was November 2013, there was a trial at the Liniers Club in Bahía Blanca. Fabio Radaelli and Alfredo Acosta saw him in a team and called me right away: 'Adrián, there is an extraordinary player. We have to sign him for sure'.

"I replied that our '97 category was already full of good talents, we had no other place. But Fabio insisted that I trust him and so we signed him. Lautaro came to Racing in January 2014 and settled in our Casa Tita, where he lived for two or three years."

He also said, "I know that everything will go very well for him in Barcelona playing alongside Messi and that Lautaro will be an excellent replacement for Luis Suárez. He is his ideal heir, he has barbaric conditions and thanks to Barça he will continue to grow as a footballer and as a man.

"Let him go to play with the best footballer in the world, who is still 32 years old and another three-four seasons ahead. Being Messi's teammate at Barcelona would enhance him and help both of them to be in perfect harmony also in the Argentina national team.

"Lautaro and Leo could thus come to understand each other in the best way on the pitch."