Inigo Martinez
Barcelona FC signs Martinez. On Wednesday, Barcelona confirmed the acquisition of defender Inigo Martinez on a free transfer after his contract with Athletic Bilbao expired.
The Catalans’ recent approach of recruiting experienced players at no transfer cost continues with the signing of the 32-year-old centre-back, a Spain international, on a contract until 2025.
In a similar vein, Barcelona recruited Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan last week and signed Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen and AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie after their contracts ended last summer.
“(Martinez) will sign for two seasons, until June 30th, 2025, and will have a 400 million euro ($435 million) release clause,” the Spanish champions said in a statement.
Martinez, who began his career at Real Sociedad and spent seven seasons in the top flight with them, joined Athletic in January 2017.
Athletic Bilbao paid his buy-out clause of 32 million euros ($35 million), a club record.
Martinez appeared in 177 games with Athletic, scoring eight goals and winning the Spanish Super Cup in 2021. He also reached two Copa del Rey finals.