Barça has seen how Chelsea has taken the lead in the signing of Jules Kounde y does not plan to remain ‘arms crossed’. Xavi Hernández wants to sign a central defender to accompany Ronald Araújo in defense given the lack of prominence that Gerard Piqué will have and the probable departure of Óscar Mingueza and Samuel Umtiti in this summer window.
Despite the fact that the club signed Andreas Christensen this summer, the sports management wants to continue adding pieces to compete for all the titles during 2022/23. With this on the table, new information revealed by ‘Onda Vasca’ assures that the azulgrana have contacted Athletic Bilbao to start negotiations for Iñigo Martinezwith the intention of closing a deal as soon as possible.
Would Mateu Alemany who would have communicated with Jon Uriarte, president of the ‘lions’, to find out first-hand what the conditions are for Basques to agree to sell their player. At 31 years old and with a contract until 2023, it would be a ‘golden’ opportunity for the man from Ondarroa to sign a new bond until the final stage of his sports career.
This is not the first time that the Barcelona He is interested in the defender, since they were close to hiring him when they were under the command of Ernesto Valverde. Xavi himself understands that he might be an important addition due to his left-footed profile and his good ball outputin addition to having a powerful aerial game that can be used in set pieces.
How much might Athletic ask for?
Iñigo has a termination clause valued at 80 million euros, although his contractual situation might benefit the Catalans in the transaction. His market value according to the ‘Transfermarkt’ portal would be 25 ‘kilos’, an accessible sum for the board following having closed the second ‘lever’ with ‘Sixth Street’. At the moment, everything is on hold due to the difficulty of the operations with Athletic, although everything will depend on whether Koundé’s signing for Chelsea becomes official in the next few hours.
