Inside Athletic

Everything points to Javi Martínez returning to Athletic this summer. It may not happen within the next few days, but appears inevitable. The 32-year-old wants to go back to San Mamés and is doing his part to help push through a transfer. Martínez has already asked Bayern Munich to help facilitate the move and is willing to lower his wages to sign with Athletic.

Apart from Martínez’s desire to wear the Zurigorri shirt again, both clubs want the deal to happen as well. Athletic hope to strengthen the squad by signing the midfielder and Bayern need to sell to avoid losing Martínez for free next summer when his contract expires. The stars are aligning for Martínez to make his way back to Bilbao, but neither club has been in a rush.

With the transfer window still open through 5 October, Athletic and Bayern have plenty of time to get a deal done. The Germans want to sell for the highest price possible while Athletic are holding out for the best deal. Ultimately, it seems as though it’s just a matter of time before the two sides reach an agreement.

Bayern initially placed a €15 million price tag on Martínez. Athletic balked at the fee and the price has been dropping ever since. Over the past two weeks the valuation has been lowered to €12 million followed by €8 million. According to a breaking report from Sky Sports Germany, Bayern are now willing to accept an offer between €6 million and €8 million.

The transfer saga took on another layer Friday when a video of Bayern Munich training showed Martínez talking with teammates Thiago and Lucas Hernandez about a possible move to Athletic. “If I go to Athletic they’ve left me the 2 (shirt),” Martínez said. It’s rare for a player to openly talk about leaving for another club during training, let alone to name the destination. The transfer window closes in 24 days.