Bavarian giants Bayern Munich have completed the signing of Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez on a five-year contract, Sky Sports understands.
Bayern, who have been chasing Martinez all summer long, finally decided to meet the €40 million release clause in the player’s contract, according to reports.
The 23-year-old was also said to be drawing heavy interest from English Premier League title holders Manchester City prior to passing his Bayern medical on Wednesday.
Martinez will join the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Luiz Gustavo in the heart of midfield for the Bundesliga giants, who are top of the table, albeit after just one league match, at the moment.
“I am very happy and looking forward to playing for a club with such a history,” revealed Martinez. “It was a long wait. But finally it’s over.”
The Spain international, who represented his country at Euro 2012 in Poland-Ukraine earlier this summer, is now the most expensive player in Bundesliga history at €40 million. The previous record holder was Martinez’s new Bayern Munich team-mate Mario Gomez, who joined the Bavarians from VfB Stuttgart for a reported fee of €33 million.
Martinez tallied four goals and one assists in 31 league appearances for Los Leones in 2011-12.
Rooney rubbishes exit rumours
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has rubbished reports linking him with a move away from Old Trafford, Sky Sports reports.
Several media outlets revealed that United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was ready to offload his star man in a reported deal worth anywhere from £40 million to £50 million.
The reports, which were taken with a grain of salt by many of United’s supporters, were most likely a byproduct of Rooney starting on the bench against Fulham on Saturday.
In response to the aforementioned reports, Rooney tweeted: “Read the nonsense in the papers and heard what people have to say. absolute rubbish. #heretostay.”
Rooney is under contract at Old Trafford until June 2015 after inking a five-year bumper deal almost two years ago.
The 26-year-old England international will miss four weeks of action after suffering a nasty cut on his inner thigh during Saturday’s 3-2 home win over Fulham.
Subsequently, Rooney will not be available to feature in Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad at The Friends Provident St Mary’s Stadium, where United will face Premier League new boys Southampton, at the weekend.
Premier League Betting Odds | Southampton v Manchester United
Southampton (11/2) v Manchester United (4/7); Draw (3/1)
Total Goals | Over 2.5 (13/20) | Under 2.5 (6/5)
Goalscorer | Robin van Persie (20/21) | Javier Hernandez (5/4) | Danny Welbeck (5/4) | Dimitar Berbatov (5/4)
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