Sign martinez now

[The Fat el Hombre]

Good news is (according to Marca) that him going to Barca isn't gonna happen. Bad news is that it looks like him to anywhere isn't going to happen:

Neither Thiago Silva nor Javi Martínez. Barcelona continue ruling out defenders and now the two names at the top of their midfielders list have fallen through. Even though Barça are trying to keep the dream of signing the Athletic de Bilbao player alive, the fact of the matter is that neither side is all that keen on the deal going through.

The Athletic management have made it clear that they have no intention of negotiating and refer to the penalty clause in the Navarra-born player's contract, which is €40. Clearly this figure is much too high for Barcelona, who would like to reduce it by including a player in exchange.

The only player at Barcelona who complies with the rules for playing at Bilbao's home ground Sam Mamés, (being Basque) is the goalkeeper playing in the associate club (Barcelona B), Oier Olazábal, but he has never been on Bilbao’s shopping list. During this past season they renewed the contract of Gorka’s understudy, Raúl Fernández, and feel that the goalkeeping positions are well covered for some years.

The Bilbao club does not feel it is necessary to sell anyone, and anyway Marcelo Beielsa was promised that the team which reached the final of the Europa League and the Spanish Cup would not be broken up, in order to persuade him to stay on. What is more, with the doubts being raised about the possible departure of Fernando Llorente, it is not likely that they would let another of their solid players escape.

 

[jlc09]

Wow, the figures I hear talked about for this guy are ridiculous.

He's a good player but Bilbao will be doing extremely well if they get 25m or above. Not worth it IMO.

 

[hideniton]

Spanish media (AS) reporting Bayern are closing in on Martinez. They're ready to meet Bilabao's demands and pay the player a salary of 135k/week.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/bayern-tienta-javi-martinez-millones/20120620dasdaiftb_26/Tes" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/bayer ... ftb_26/Tes</a>


The German media taking it up. Even trustworthy papers like Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Kicker report that negotiations (supposedly Bayern won't need to pay the full buy out clause) are nearly finished. A dpa reporter questioned Martinez at a press conference if there's any truth to the rumors of him joining Bayern. He evaded by saying: "I don't concern myself with my future right now. All that matters is the national team. ... Everthing else will have to wait till the Euros are over."

Not looking too good if we were ever in for him to begin with.

 

[Blue Haze]

Please City, act now

If Bayern can afford him, we must be able to.

 

[Ireland_for_pm]

Im pretty sure our main targets was hazard & Martinez. Looks like we've missed out on both something doesn't seem right here. Unless like tolmie sed a bomb is about to go off in terms of a signing.

 

[toffee balls]

Im pretty sure our main targets was hazard & Martinez. Looks like we've missed out on both something doesn't seem right here. Unless like tolmie sed a bomb is about to go off in terms of a signing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlH2oYedfk[/youtube]

Chillax Fella

 

[adrianr]

Please City, act now

If Bayern can afford him, we must be able to.

I don't get this one at all. It sounded like the only obstacles to us getting him were Barcelona or loyalty to Bilbao. This is neither, it's just a matter of money.

Only DDR would be able to convince me missing out on this guy was a good idea, and that's just because hopefully by the time he's winding down we have the next big thing in our sights.

 

[Super David Silva 21]

Reports suggesting a deal is very close between Bayern and Bilbao.

 

[LoveCity]

And Kicker also says Bayern will pay a lot less than the "crazy" £32million price tag thrown around, so what are we doing with this one because he was supposed to be one of our top summer targets. FWIW, Kicker says Martinez and Dzeko are Bayern's big summer business plans but they may also be preparing for the arrival of one Pep Guardiola maybe in a year's time.

 

[Rammyblues]

Either never interested in him or if we were could have been stuck on the back burner because we prefer De Rossi (well Bert does).