#8 - Javi Martínez

Gil wrote:Very good depth signing.

He has been guaranteed a Spot apparently as the starting CDM beside Schweni if Schweni can rid himself of constant injuries,overweight issues & a lack of performance.

Otherwise it will be Kroos-Martinez.

Kroos is 23 odd & still lazy & far from fully matured. He will be at his best in 2-3 years & Schweni at 30+ wont be that good. So its good this way,they can push each other. Worse case we'll play 4-3-3 with them both & have Muller-Shaqiri as Super Subs.

mtfootball wrote:It's official?

Yes. On Bayern Website.


Officially announced with a statement of Javi & Karl Heinz.

Congrats to Bayern and Bundesliga followers, fantastic signing for the team and the league overall.

Bayern had no other possibility other than to break his release-clause to get him - Athletic didn't want to sell at any price. I can't see why people are raving at the price, maybe jealous that their supported team couldn't afford him *cough* barca fans *cough*. Big prices are for big players.

If he's worth it, be a flop or not, we have to wait atleast 1 year after his first match with Bayern.

When the hell is Ekiza coming back?

Gurungpei just isn't cutting it right now man.

You should sign Flano or Inigo (if possible, likely now)

No if we were going to spend 40M on a transfer then we would have rather spent it on TS urban.

Anyways congratulations to Bilbao. More small teams should play hard to get and force other clubs to pay the release clause.

Kingofeverythingclassy wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Bayern fans need not to listen to Madrid & Barca fans about a such a price of the transfer as doing so would be pure and utter hypocrisy from their end considering the prices they have paid for some players.

In the end Javi hasn't had a bad game in quite a long time. He can play CB, DM, CM and at times AM along with having a near flawless skill set (pathetic finishing though) which in the end justifies the price for a 23 year old who has years and years ahead of him.

Bayern were a joke when it comes to this transfer but that doesn't mean Javi's price paid is laughable. The have a very very consistent performer in their hands who is years ahead of his age in proportion to his capability and of course, the ability to exceed with the ceiling of his potential.

Congrats to Bayern for acquiring such a fantastic player.

Transfer prices never reflect the value of a player. Robben & Ribery costed 25M each while Torres & Carrol costed 58M & 42M odd Euros.

Its all about various market variables,demand supply & so on.

How many great DM's are available in the market. The one's with Good Vision,who can attack,who are tall,strong,good in the air,versatile & can play different positions.

I cant think of any. Maybe Lars Bender from Germany but he is not as good as Martinez & way too raw.

Martinez is the missing link in the Bayern Puzzle. Bayern have Gustavo & Tymo & both of them are 0 in attack & both of them are just bad aerially. We needed a different CDM.

We cant afford a DM who sits infront of the defense & just tackles. Javi can help take Bayern to the next step.

There's not many ideas Bayern can improve in. Maybe a Speed CAM & CB's?? Javi can play CB too incase of emergency & Dante atleast has to be given a chance at CB. Next year we'll probably get Howedes.

The other position is CAM & Shaqiri has done great in that position in pre-season & Muller-Kroos can play there too.

Its hard to say if anyone can score 45 goals a season like Gomez does & 12 goals in CHL. Probably,probably not.

My post is actually favouring Bayern's signing and not condemning it. So I hope we are on the same wavelength. And I agree with your post above as it matters on all the variable returns that Javi can provide now and on the long run which makes him worth that amount of cash.

And in my opinion, he should start over Gustavo as Javi is simply a better player then him.

Le Samourai wrote:When the hell is Ekiza coming back?

Gurungpei just isn't cutting it right now man.

You should sign Flano or Inigo (if possible, likely now)

Le Samourai wrote:When the hell is Ekiza coming back?

Gurungpei just isn't cutting it right now man.

You should sign Flano or Inigo (if possible, likely now)

Ekiza is already on the first team and has had a fantastic pre-season along with making apps. for Athletic this season.

Inigo is Sociedad so that is like Liverpool buying from Everton. The squad is more then fine right now except for the gap Llorente has left despite a new False9/10 combination planned from De Marcos, Muniain and Ismael/Ibai

BarrileteCosmico wrote:No if we were going to spend 40M on a transfer then we would have rather spent it on TS urban.

Anyways congratulations to Bilbao. More small teams should play hard to get and force other clubs to pay the release clause.

Pretty ridiculous thing to say. They buy only Basque. They cant spend 40M on anybody.

There are 2 days left in the window. They have no time to get a good replacement. Anyways a like for like is not possible unless they scout out of Basque region.

Bilbao were probably praying for Bayern to admit defeat maybe. Its not like Javi has a 1 year left in his contract. He has got like 4 odd years left.

Bilbao are not bankrupt either. I feel sorry for them,good job done by them in protecting their own interest.

Most expensive transfer in Bundesliga history.






Aaaaaaannnnndddd its a DM

Barrettinator wrote:Most expensive transfer in Bundesliga history.






Aaaaaaannnnndddd its a DM

So what?

Javi is actually going to earn more than what he earned at Bilabao as wages

so the talk of him saving 10 million throw wages is a mirage .


Its like saying Javi was asking 10 million wages a year but we managed to make it 2 mill a year so we saved 40 million euros for 5 years

From memory alone Otamendi, Garay, Gago, Zabaleta and Higuain are all Argentine-Basque, so it's pretty ridiculous to say that they can't spend that money.

Barrettinator wrote:Most expensive transfer in Bundesliga history.






Aaaaaaannnnndddd its a DM

Wrong. Javi has the ability to play CB, DM, CM and occasionally AM when needed.

All roles he has performed magnificently.

urbaNRoots wrote:

Barrettinator wrote:Most expensive transfer in Bundesliga history.






Aaaaaaannnnndddd its a DM

So what?

Great player, not so good signing imo.

Why they think he's going to make so much of a difference for their team that they feel he's worth that amount is beyond me.

Was hoping we'd sign him.

So why isn't Bielsa playing him?

He hasn't played in La liga yet and Gurungpei is starting ahead of him, don't get it .

Anyway you understand my confusion, Bielsa is wierd.

I rate Ekiza highly so as long as he's not injured long term, then Javi won't be missed THAT much....same goes for Amorebieta.

Yes I agree, I rate Aduriz and Torquero, but they usually play as a foil for another forward.....but at the same time there is no one out there to buy....so youll have to hope for the best.

It is a great signing. He will be a regular there for the next 5 seasons minimum easily. They paid a lot, but only good will come out of it.

Many people here don't know about the financial part of the story Let me explain. Bayern don't borrow money or have a sugar daddy who infuses cash to make transfers. They make transfer money from the profits they earn each year after infamous income - expenditure process. The problem is that each time Bayern make profit and don't spend it German law takes about 40% of it as tax away. Bayern is one of the few clubs which isn't interested in a very positive balance sheet. They simply lose money Their revenue got a lot higher during the past 5 years therefore their profit is also bigger

So what do they do? They spend the money which would've been taxed by gouvernment into transfers and carry it on their balance sheet over the course of many years. For example, Gomez was bought for €33m. They spread his transfer costs with €8m per year on their balance sheet Needless to say Gomez transfer is already clear. As funny as it sounds, they needed to spend on a huge transfer target. Martinez' transfer costs will be spread on the balance sheet just like before to avoid taxing.

Next, although Martinez will earn 5m annually, taxes are as high as 40% in Germany. The real catalyzer behind the move is adidas. Martinez is an awesome advertising target. He's tall, good looking, already models and has a nice WAG. His image rights with adidas will land him more money than in Bilbao ever


That said if they really wanted to spend big bucks I'd get Tiago Silva or Radamel Flacao

Arquitecto wrote:

Barrettinator wrote:Most expensive transfer in Bundesliga history.






Aaaaaaannnnndddd its a DM

Wrong. Javi has the ability to play CB, DM, CM and occasionally AM when needed.

All roles he has performed magnificently.

Yeah Mikel used to be an AM and can also play as a CB......but he's naturally a DM. Not saying Mikel is as good as Javi. My point is, there are quite a few players that can do those.

He's like you mad Urrutia ?

mtfootball wrote:Was hoping we'd sign him.

You can't have everyone mate.

Le Samourai wrote:So why isn't Bielsa playing him?

He hasn't played in La liga yet and Gurungpei is starting ahead of him, don't get it .

Anyway you understand my confusion, Bielsa is wierd.

I rate Ekiza highly so as long as he's not injured long term, then Javi won't be missed THAT much....same goes for Amorebieta.

Yes I agree, I rate Aduriz and Torquero, but they usually play as a foil for another forward.....but at the same time there is no one out there to buy....so youll have to hope for the best.

His workrate is poor

First PK of Javi Martínez at 30 Aug 2012 (Language: German)

Spoiler:

Javi talking German after 2 weeks in Munich

Spoiler:

First Pictures 30 Aug 2012:

Spoiler:

Martinez as burglar (newspaper drawing 12 Sep 2012) :

Spoiler:

But where do you think bayern plan to play him defence or pivot?

Le Samourai wrote:So why isn't Bielsa playing him?

He hasn't played in La liga yet and Gurungpei is starting ahead of him, don't get it .

Anyway you understand my confusion, Bielsa is wierd.

I rate Ekiza highly so as long as he's not injured long term, then Javi won't be missed THAT much....same goes for Amorebieta.

Yes I agree, I rate Aduriz and Torquero, but they usually play as a foil for another forward.....but at the same time there is no one out there to buy....so youll have to hope for the best.

I have no idea why Gurpegui is playing. He is a good player but Athletic have better players in his place. Fact is Javi won't be missed since Iturraspe has immediately taken his place and performed wonderfully.

No doubt Bielsa is strange as otherwise he wouldn't play players out of position and switch the best formation to the worst possible one.

Amorebieta just needs to fix his discipline as otherwise he is very solid in his reading of the game. Ekiza I agree needs to have more chances and rotate with Amorebieta who became inconsistent near the end of the season.

Torquero is the quintessential impact sub for Athletic as how Kuyt should have been as he adds the different element with his workrate and solid passing.

Aduriz I never was a fan of as he is capable of brilliance but to lazy to play for Athletic let alone Bielsa.

AL3 wrote:But where do you think bayern plan to play him defence or pivot?

Most likely pivot next to Schweinsteiger or Kroos