La Liga giants FC Barcelona remain interested in signing Spanish defender Íñigo Martínez from Athletic Bilbao.
After spending time in the Aurrera Ondarroa academy, Íñigo Martínez joined the Real Sociedad youth team.
Later, the defender graduated from the Real Sociedad youth academy and was promoted to the subsidiary. After two seasons, he finally made his senior team debut at the age of 20. Martínez soon became a starter for Real.
He scored 17 goals and played 238 games for Sociedad before signing for Athletic Bilbao in the January 2018 transfer market. Since then he has been one of the mainstays of the Bilbao defense. Martínez has won a Spanish Super Cup trophy with Bilbao. The defender has also represented Spain in international football.
Barcelona wants to sign Íñigo Martínez
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona wants to sign the Spanish international Íñigo Martínez in the transfer market next January.
The defender has been one of Barcelona’s key targets for a long time. They had the chance to sign him last summer but chose not to pay his hefty €80m release clause.
But the Catalan giants chose not to trigger it and signed Jules Kounde. They also signed Andreas Christensen from Chelsea.
It was previously reported that Barcelona have already reached an agreement with Íñigo Martínez to join the club next summer when he becomes a free agent. But now it looks like they’re going to push for him in the winter window.
Former Spanish international Gerard Piqué is not going through his best moment. The Spaniard has clearly had his best moment and has been left as the sixth option for the center of Barcelona. he has seen very little playing time thus far. And even when he played, his performances haven’t been ideal.
It was their mistake in the match against Inter Milan that cost them valuable points. Barcelona are already looking to send him out of the club before next season. And they could even look to get rid of it in January.
Hence, Barcelona is interested in signing Íñigo in the next transfer window. They see him as the replacement for Piqué. His experience can be a great advantage for Xavi’s team.
Now, curiously, he is a left-footed central defender that Barcelona does not currently have. It has also been known that Xavi likes his profile a lot. Having said all this, Barcelona will only sign the defender if Athletic sells him at a reasonable price.
