Iñigo Martínez left Barcelona overnight, after agreeing with the Catalan club to terminate his contract and join Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia on a free transfer.
The Basque player has been one of Barcelona’s most prominent players over the past two seasons. In addition to his quality, which has made him the starting center-back for Pau Coparci, he is also praised for his leadership role, which made him the Blaugrana’s third captain last season.
Oddly, despite Iñigo renewing his contract until the end of next season, Barcelona will not make any money from his transfer to Al-Nassr. The deal will be completed for free, despite Barça needing any money to achieve the 1:1 rule and restrict new signings.
According to Sport, Martínez received an offer from Al-Nassr last summer, but Barcelona prevented the player from leaving, promising to let him leave for free at any other opportunity to the Saudi League. Now is the time to fulfill that promise.
Other reports indicate that the 33-year-old has a clause in his new contract with Barcelona that gives him the right to terminate his contract if any Saudi offer arrives with a salary higher than his current one with the Blaugrana.
Barcelona’s management, for its part, is not upset by Inigo’s free transfer. On the contrary, the club is happy for the player to receive a high salary, especially since his salary with Barça was modest compared to his abilities as one of the best defenders in the world today.
At the same time, Barcelona will gain financially from Martinez’s departure in another way, as it will free up €12 million in net income, which is the value of his salary plus a transfer bonus. This will allow the club to move closer to complying with Financial Fair Play regulations.
Taking into account the net income left by Martinez and the other departing players, Barcelona has saved approximately €30 million, which will rise to €40 million after adding the proceeds from the recent sponsorship agreement with the Republic of Congo.
It’s worth noting that Barcelona sold Pau Victor to Sporting Braga for €3 million, and loaned Ansu Fati to Monaco and Pablo Torre to Mallorca, saving around €12 million from these moves, in addition to another €6.4 million from the sale of Clement Lenglet to Atletico Madrid.
