Barca ask Inigo Martinez to wait until they can sign him for free

Barcelona want to sign Inigo Martinez next summer without having to pay a penny to his current club, Athletic Bilbao. The Catalan's themselves have told the player this. However, in response, 'Sport' reports that the board of his current club will be holding a meeting with his agents this Wednesday.

They are going to request that he extends his contract with 'Los Leones' but, if he wants to be wearing a Barca shirt in the 2023/24 season, they are going to withdraw their offer. This all depends on what Joan Laporta is able to offer the player personally or if the Barcelona president can come to an agreement with his current owners, like he was able to do with Sevilla regarding Kounde and Bayern Munich in Lewandowski's case.

'Los Cules' are not in a rush to get things done for obvious reasons. Xavi Hernandez already has Kounde at his disposal to pair with Araujo to bolster his defense. Therefore, Ernesto Valverde's centre back is not someone Barca urgently need. He is simply a consideration for Barca at this moment in time.

Inigo Martinez has earned himself a lot of La Liga experience and, therefore, he will require no time at all in adapting to the league should he sign for Barca. However, he would have to aclimatise himself to his new coach but with his experience of playing in the Spain national team, this is something that would not be totally new to him.