Inigo Martinez will become Barca’s second free agent signing of summer

FC Barcelona announced on Monday their first signing for the 2023/24 season. The Catalan giants have confirmed the open secret and informed that, after finishing his contract with Manchester City, Ilkay Gündogan will be part of Xavi Hernández’s project for the next two seasons, with the possibility of extending his contract for a third season if the variables related to the German midfielder’s participation numbers are met.

Unless there is a major surprise, Gündogan will not be the only player to join Barça this summer on a free transfer. Barça have long been ‘exploiting’ the free agent market and, as we have been reporting in recent months, they have also convinced Iñigo Martínez to join the club. The arrival of the Basque centre-back, who has already announced that he will not continue at Athletic Club, should not take long to become official.

In fact, it is likely that the 32-year-old from Bizkaia will be the next to arrive. Barça’s good work to ‘tie down’ players who finish their contracts with their clubs continues to bear fruit. In previous markets, players such as Eric Garcia, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Memphis Depay, Sergio Agüero, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessié arrived for free. Gündogan has already joined this list and Iñigo Martínez will soon follow suit.

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