Athletic Club Bilbao are prepared to pay €20m to re-sign midfielder Javi Martinez from Bayern Munich, says club president Aitor Elizegi.
The 30-year-old joined the German giants from Athletic Club seven years ago and has made over 200 first-team appearances, despite being limited by injury setbacks.
“Athletic can pay €20m for Javi Martinez without any problem,” Elizegi told reporters, as cited by El Mundo Deportivo.
“We have the capacity to incorporate for these type of additions, it would be no problem for us from an economic point of view.
“The social health of this club is good and we do not have any qualms about this, should we have a consensus among our board of directors.
“My dream is that (Coach) Gaizka Garitano will be with us for three years. The first effort he has made for this club has been brilliant, how he managed to direct the ship.”
Martinez recently told German publication Kicker: “Bilbao is a paradise, I still have a lot of friends there and I cannot say that I will not return there one day.”
Athletic look set to have a busy summer of business ahead of them with Coach Gaizka Garitano and a quartet of players – Aritz Aduriz, Markel Susaeta, Ander Iturraspe and Mikel Rico – all seeing their contracts expire.
