Barcelona could sign La Liga veteran in the winter, verbal agreement already in place

Athletic Club defender Inigo Martinez has been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona over the past few months. The veteran Spaniard is in the final phase of his contract with the Basque club and has not shown any indication of wanting to renew, leading to speculations over his future.

Barça were interested in the 32-year-old during the summer transfer window, especially when it looked like their pursuit of Jules Kounde would fail. However, they were able to land the Frenchman, which meant that they did not push for Martinez’s signing.

However, the Blaugrana have maintained their interest in the Athletic Club ace, knowing well that he will be a free agent at the end of the season. Plans had been made to sign him on a Bosman move at the end of the season.

But, according to Mundo Deportivo, those plans could be brought forward to the January window itself in case there are any problems with any of the current defenders on the books at Spotify Camp Nou.

Indeed, the report states that Barcelona could make a move to sign Martinez from Athletic Club in the winter if the likes of Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde or Andreas Christensen are bogged down by injury problems.

Furthermore, Gerard Pique’s situation at the club is far from certain at this point, with reports claiming that the veteran defender is one of the players that Barcelona want to sell during the mid-season trading period.

In such a case, the possibility of signing Martinez ahead of schedule is not ruled out. The report states that Barça already have a verbal agreement in place with the Spanish international.

So, if the plan is to sign him in January, it would only be a matter of agreeing a reasonable fee with Athletic keeping in mind the player’s contract situation. Another factor that will be considered is whether Martinez has sufficiently recovered from his knee issues from earlier this season.

If Barça somehow manage to move Pique on during the January window, there is a distinct possibility that they might go for Martinez to replace their veteran captain.