Quote from: rendravolt on July 05, 2023, 02:14:07 PM

Quote from: Polkeins on July 05, 2023, 01:19:37 PM

Another good news for Barcelona they signed Inigo Martinez for free.
https://theathletic.com/4664977/2023/07/05/barcelona-transfer-news-inigo-martinez/
Contract until 2025. Martinez is 32 years old and his 3-year contract means that Barcelona believes in the player's potential to play another 3 years at the highest level.
Also, Barcelona, as usual, put a huge amount of 400 million euros for the player, to block a possible transfer in the future.
Reliable and experienced defender will not hurt the team, the fact that last year Athletic Bilbao wanted 50 million euros for the player, but Barcelona preferred to wait and get the player for free.

Barcelona seems very fond of getting players who are free agents and maybe it's as a way to avoid spending for the club. After getting Ilkay Gundogan for free, now it's Inigo Martinez's turn and the clause fee is the same as Gundogan's of 400 million euros. I don't understand how Barcelona owners think to keep their old players with that many clauses and moreover they get them for free, very strange for a club as big as Barcelona but looks like begging for money at the cost of these clauses. Apart from that, I think this can be a good addition to the squad for next season especially to be able to compete with other teams in all competitions.

Barcelona's management worked great because to get even one player of this class for free is great, and two is just fantastic luck. True, Gündogan always wanted to play for Barcelona, but still the Barcelona management should not have scared away such a player.
I guess after the transfers of Coutinho, Fati and other expensive purchases, the Barcelona management decided that they would no longer take such risks and are logically looking for good players with expiring contracts to sign them.

I always wondered why the team does not raise the salaries of its players whose contract is expiring, because it is cheaper to raise the salary of your player by a couple of million, instead of buying the same player on the market for 50-75 million?