Back to the Soccer Newsfeed

Athletic Bilbao 'Can Easily Raise €20M for Javi Martinez,' Says Club President

Athletic Bilbao president Aitor Elizegi is confident the club can afford to re-sign Javi Martinez from Bayern Munich.

The 30-year-old left Athletic for Bayern in 2012 in a €40 million deal, and Elizegi said they can bring him back for half the price.

He told Mundo Deportivo (h/t Goal's Chris Burton): "Athletic can easily raise €20 million for Javi Martinez, and we have the capacity to pay the price. So from an economic point of view, that would not be a problem."

Martinez seems to be receptive to a move, as he told Kicker (h/t Burton): "Bilbao is a paradise.