Bilbao pay club record fee for defender Martinez

Athletic Bilbao announced the signing of Real Sociedad central defender Inigo Martinez for a club record fee of 32 million euros ($39.8 million).

The Spanish top division football club moved quickly to pay Martinez's buyout clause on Tuesday, just a day after losing Aymeric Laporte to former English champions Manchester City, who paid 65 million euros ($80.84 million) for the French central defender, reports Xinhua news agency.

Martinez is a left-side central defender like Laporte and has agreed to a contract until the end of June 2023 with a buyout clause of 80 million euros ($99.5 million).

The move comes two years after the 26-year-old commented in a press conference that he would "never" join Athletic Bilbao, who are bitter local rivals of Real Sociedad, and just six months after it looked as if he was moving to FC Barcelona only for the transfer to fall through at the last moment.

Martinez made 205 league appearances for Real Sociedad and has represented the Spanish national side on four occasions, making his debut against Ecuador in 2013.

Elsewhere in Spain, Villarreal have sealed the transfer of veteran midfielder Javi Fuego from Espanyol.

--IANS

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