FC Barcelona are looking for options to further reinforce their already formidable defense, which has played an integral part in helping the club win their first league title after a significant break. Inigo Martinez is one such defender on the Catalan club’s radar, who is close to joining La Blaugrana.
The successful league campaign of FC Barcelona this season can be attributed to a significant degree to the club’s backline. The backline of Araujo, Kounde, Christensen, and Balde has been among the best in the league, as it has conceded only 11 goals up to now in La Liga.
Furthermore, the Catalan club has only conceded 2 goals in all of their home games, and the team is close to breaking records in this important aspect.
However, the club is not getting complacent with this highly effective backline, and is already looking for reinforcements in the summer. One of the players being chosen by the club is Athletic Club’s, Inigo Martinez.
Martinez has been playing a central role in the Athletic club’s defense for a number of seasons, and his importance in the team has been starkly apparent in the last few games.
The defender has missed the last four matches due to a triceps injury in the right leg, and in all of these matches, the Basque side has not come out with a victory. In one of these matches against Villareal, Athletic got battered with five goals scored by the Yellow Submarines.
This trend of the team suffering in the absence of Martinez can also be observed over a season-long period. This season, the Basque team did not feature Martinez in 18 of their matches. Of these 18 matches, 9 ended in a loss, and 4 ended in a draw.
On the other hand, the winning percentage of the team significantly improved when Martinez was a part of the starting line up, with the team winning 8, drawing 3, and losing 4.
In addition to his importance for the team, these statistics also point towards a weakness in Martinez. He has been forced to miss 18 games due to injury, which are more than the games that he has played, standing at 15.
Thus, while he is definitely a good option for FC Barcelona to reinforce the defense in the upcoming summer window, especially as he would come as a free agent, the club would have to be wary of his recurring injuries, particularly as the player is already 32 years of age.
