Printed newspaper back pages in Spain today carried the story, verified by on-line sources such as Mundo Deportivo , of reports of Girona FC being already in receipt of a bid from West Ham for their right back Arnau Martínez.
‘The English team has already contacted the representative of the 21-year-old‘ was the exact translation of the piece, which continued: “Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham is very clear that he wants to go for Arnau Martínez“
Whilst the player was earlier reported as happy at his club, there were concerns in his camp that game time had been limited last season. The player certainly fits the profile of a fresh Hammers recruit and may well have been contacted as a ‘plan B’ in case the Wan-Bissaka deal went sour.
The defender is in the last year of a contract with Catalan club Girona, having failed so far to agree new terms.
Perhaps because of inevitable hints of ‘shared language’ with the West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui, (even though equating a Catalan to a ‘Spaniard’ is potentially a recipe for disaster: Spain has very complex internal politics and strong regional loyalties).
Perhaps because of his youth, experience, attainable price and successful career to date, plus having completed a full pre-season and being ready to roll; Many are drawing the conclusion that Hammers’ Director of Football Tim Steidten is bidding for him in earnest.
What has been overlooked is the Champions’ League pull of Girona ( finishing third in la Liga) and lack of European football at London Stadium, something else the player will have to weigh up if – and it is still IF- a formal bid comes in shortly.
A great option if the AWB deal really is dead, hopefully the report proves true and West Ham aren’t being held to ransom by Manchester United, getting out there recruiting an exciting alternative. Simon’s post yesterday confirmed the 20 million euro (£17 million) release clause in Martínez’s contract. So, affordable too.
With just a year remaining on his contract, would Girona really expect to receive E20mil…?
I imagine a move to the Premiership, probably increasing his salary from Euro400k a year (Capology.com) to what, Euro2.5mil. will be very attractive?
That makes them compatible transfer fees.
Younger and more flexible.
AWB has become a waste of time.
No contest Martinez 100%.
Hopefully we sign him and Ferdi Kadioglu then we will have proper competition in the full back slots on both sides.
This kid seems a far better investment than AWB. We need a full back that can attack and deliver quality balls into our attacking players, who are immense. I don’t believe AWB is that player. I would love for us to take a gamble on this kid. We may be able to mould him into something special.
Awb is a home grown player, so would allow us to sign a foreign CB, so if we sign Martinez we have to go for a home grown CB
fyi martinez is u21 so he doesn’t have any impact on HG status, doesn’t need to be registered
that being said, we do need 1 more HG player if we want two sign 2x more players after martinez and we don’t sell anyone
if we zouma gets confirmed we’ll have 2 slots available without signing a HG
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we aren’t quite boxed in yet, plenty of options at this stage
Yes we definitely need a right back, maybe 2 if Coufal leaves. I am also concerned about Bassaka and whether he would REALLY want to play and not think he is an MU player and that is all that matters. Quite a few times he certainly put too much effort into games he played last year when things were going wrong. I cannot understand why we have not kept an interest in KWP who seemed to me to be not far behind Bassaka. I know nothing about the Spaniard but i do believe very much in Steidten and if he says yes, so do I.
If we are able to get Martinez, nothing like it. We cannot be blackmailed by Man United as regards the AWB deal and I gather AWB’s agent also wants a chunk of the money which is making the transfer complicated. If we are able to convince Martinez, with Tim’s persuasive powers and the influence of Lopetegui, than this deal should go through. He is a young player and clearly has a huge potential.