The last few years have seen a lot of transfer activity involving FC Barcelona and one of their main rivals in La Liga, Atletico Madrid. The latest move in this regard saw the defender Clement Lenglet join the Colchoneros on a year-long loan.
However, the Frenchman’s stay at the Madrid club can be further extended as he is performing at a very high level and is one of the regular starters for Diego Simeone. Meanwhile, he is not expected to get any important role in the Blaugrana squad if he returns to his parent club.
But, according to SPORT, there is another defender in the current Barcelona squad that Diego Simeone wanted in his Atletico Madrid team. The report claims that the Argentine tactician was highly interested in signing Iñigo Martínez when he was not getting a lot of minutes under Xavi Hernandez.
Simeone found Basque defender to be a highly interesting player and always had him on his list to strengthen his defence. However, the veteran defender himself was clear that he wanted to stay at Barcelona.
Thus, in the end, the Mattress Makers ended up signing Robin le Normand from Real Sociedad for €25 million. But still, Martinez was the first choice for the Atletico head coach.
On the other hand, the decision to stay at Barcelona also turned out to be the right one for the Basque centre-back, as he is one of the fixed starters in Hansi Flick this season. He has already played 31 games for the Blaugranes this season, starting 30 and coming on in as a substitute only in a single game.
Owing to his good performances, Martinez is also likely to get a one-year extension on his contract, despite the fact that he is already 33 years of age and will be 34 by the time the next season ends.
