On Wednesday, FC Barcelona confirmed the free transfer of defender Inigo Martinez from Athletic Bilbao.
The Spanish centre-back agreed to a two-year contract deal until the summer of 2025, with a release clause of roughly 400 million euros.
Martinez, 32, who has over 350 career La Liga games and 22 goals, was a long-time target for Barcelona. He has 20 caps for Spain but wasn’t included in Luis de la Fuente’s team for the European Qualifiers last month.
The Spaniard had been in contact with the La Liga winners since January and when his contract with Athletic expired in June, he signed for Barcelona after reaching an agreement verbally in April.
He joins Senegalese teenager Mikayil Faye and treble-winning Manchester City player Ilkay Gundogan as Barcelona’s third summer signings. Both players joined the club on free transfers.
Last month, La Liga approved Barcelona’s economic viability plan, allowing the club to sign new contracts for players such as Ronald Araujo and Gavi. However, the club is still over their salary limit and can only spend up to 40 per cent of the money raised from sales and loans on new signings.
Martinez’s age has been called into question, but adding an experienced campaigner like him will only benefit Barcelona.