Barcelona will recruit a new central defender following the retirement of Gerard Pique. The decision was made premeditated and carefully considered, and Joan Laporta came to the conclusion that it was an obligation. Especially after watching the many injuries that occurred this season in the recent period, due to the accumulation of matches. Ronald Araujo and Jules Conde had to play a lot on the right side
Between this and that Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen were also not completely convinced, forcing Marcos Alonso to act out of his original position, Xavi Hernandez asked the president and Matteo Alemani the arrival of a new face. The first candidate, and the biggest favorite to land at Camp Nou, is Inigo Martinez. There was little doubt about that, and many already expected him to be the chosen one
Because last summer he was about to land, and his name rang adamantly. On this occasion, they were unable to reach an agreement with Athletic Bilbao, who refused to allow the departure of one of their biggest stars. Instead, they will now have no other choice but to take their losses, because the contract expires in June. There is nothing they can do to hold him back and make him change his mind
The Basques are convinced that the best thing in his career is to leave San Mamés and land at Barcelona. He’s facing the last chance of his life to sign a big contract, landing a group that guarantees him to fight for titles. Laporta plans to make a “low-cost” offering in the winter market to take his landing for a few months, although he won’t make much money for this either. Finally, about nine million euros will be on the table
The only thing Laporta has to do is reach an agreement with the management of Athletic, because the understanding with Inigo Martinez and his representative has been completed, and has been in effect for several months. They have already agreed on the salary, term of the bond, and bonuses, and they will honor what they agreed to
Martinez is very excited about the option of joining the Xavi project and defending the colors of Barcelona. Although his obsession at the moment is to see if he will be on Luis Enrique’s list to go to the World Cup in Qatar
