Real Madrid interested in signing 25-year-old superstar as Karim Benzema's replacement - Reports 

Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez is being pursued by Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid as potential replacements for their respective centre-forwards, as per Calciomercatoweb (h/t HITC).

Last month, the same publication stated that Spurs could make a move for the Argentina international if Harry Kane leaves in the future. The English striker is in the final two years of his contract in north London and has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich.

The Bavarians saw Robert Lewandowski leave for Barcelona this summer and are yet to truly replace him in their team. If Kane does leave Tottenham, they could sign Martinez but it will be neither cheap nor easy.

I Nerazzurri see Martinez as a future Ballon d'Or winner and want £86 million for his services. This will easily make him Spurs' most expensive player in history if a move goes through.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, have the hard task of finding a striker to replace Benzema in the long run. The Frenchman has been one of the best strikers in the world for the last decade or so.

However, he is in the final year of his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu. It has been claimed that his contract will be automatically extended by another season if he wins the Ballon d'Or award in Paris on 17 October.

Martinez, meanwhile, has been a revelation for the Serie A giants ever since they signed him from Racing Club in the summer of 2018. He has scored 78 goals and contributed 26 assists in 194 appearances for the club across all competitions.

He recently scored one and assisted another in Inter's 3-3 UEFA Champions League draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Wednesday (12 October).

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Real Madrid's Karim Benzema backed to win Ballon d'Or by Barcelona superstar

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has backed Real Madrid star Karim Benzema to win the Ballon d'Or later this month.

The Polish striker was the favorite to lift the 2020 edition but the award was canceled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The former Bayern Munich striker made a rather sarcastic reference to the event when giving his prediction for the award this term (via MARCA):

"The Ballon d'Or is likely to be won by Benzema. ... If they don't cancel it."

Benzema was in fine form last season, helping his team win the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League trophy. He scored 44 times and assisted a further 15 goals in 46 games across all competitions.