Bayern Munich have signed Javier Martinez for $50 million, resulting in the biggest transfer fee to be seen in the Bundesliga.
After helping Athletic Bilbao finish second in both, the Europa League and the Copa Del Rey, the 23-year-old was in demand, but Bilbao weren’t ready give away one of their most prized players so easily.
Wading off England’s Manchester City and Barcelona, Joshua Urrutia stated that the club will not become a part of any negotiations which involve a price of less than £31.7 million.
However, Bayern decided to dig a bit deeper, and scraped up enough money to make the transfer - the most expensive one in the Bundesliga yet so far.
The young Spaniard is very enthusiastic to finally join up with the German record holders, saying, “I am very happy to be here and I hope to (return) all your support in the first match.”
Scoring 22 goals in 201 matches for Bilbao, and with 8 caps for Spain, and even winning a World Cup, the 23-year-old seems to be worth every last penny spent by Munich.
With a five-year contract, the young Spaniard should be able to settle well with the German giants.
Even Madrid-based reporter, Dermot Corrigan, stated that despite all the competition in the German club’s midfield, Martinez should still be able to make his mark.
He continued to infer that since he is young, he will just end up improving in order to fit the competitive German game.
However, Dermot Corrigan further stated, “I don’t think anybody else really would have paid 40 million Euros for him.” As the Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, also backed out because of the high price tag attached with the player.
The dealing and negotiations, however, were not as straightforward as Bayern would have liked them to be.
Bayern chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, complained, “The transfer of Javi proved to be very complicated because we had no cooperation with Athletic Bilbao. So we are happy that he is finally with us. In recent days we still had to resolve tax and legal problems”.
So despite having legal and tax issues, it seems that Bayern are more than happy to have Javi on the team, and it seems that the feelings are mutual, with Javi even settled for a lesser salary. However, the 23-year-old has to prove his place, as he has to
prove his $50 million worth in front of the German crowd.
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