"Crazy" and "outrageous" were the words used by Bayern Munich's sporting director Matthias Sammer to describe the prospect of the German club triggering Javi Martínez's €40 million release clause in the summer of 2012. "We won't do it, as things stand," Sammer added. "But if we believe we have to do it, in sporting terms, we have no choice but to be crazy."
The Bavarians had never spent as much on a player before and they haven't spent as much since, either. The 27-year-old former Athletic Bilbao midfielder remains the most expensive transfer in the club's history. On the star-studded Bayern squad, Martínez is one of the more discrete performers -- his chief role in Pep Guardiola's system is to prevent excitement, not create it -- but no one would dispute that the historic outlay for his services has been fully vindicated.