Bring the boy back home! Athletic Club want to re-sign Javi Martinez from Bayern

Athletic Club is a special football club and they’ve got a way of making you feel special too. They’ve come out and said that there is only one player they would like to bring in before the start of next season – and it’s a player who’d already played for the red and whites – Javi Martinez.

The classy midfielder has had an incredible nine-year stint with Bayern, having joined the German giants from Athletic in 2012. Now, Javi is nearing his 33rd birthday and is nearing a return to San Mames.

Back in the stripes: Martinez playing for Athletic in 2011 (©AFP)

Nine Bundesliga crowns in as many seasons, two Champions League titles, five German Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups are a fine return for the boy who started playing football in a tiny village of Ayegui in northern Spain. Martinez is about to return to the club that showed faith in him 15 years ago.

Martinez is one of the players who are set to depart Bayern as free agents following the expiration of their contracts. And that is great news for the Basque club. Athletic were keen to land him a year ago, but only in case Bayern allowed the player to change clubs without demanding a fee. The Bilbao club couldn’t afford that and the deal had to be put on ice. It could finally happen in the coming weeks.

Javi is keen on a return to the club that received $44million from Bayern in 2012. A two-year contract is on the table. Should Martinez sign it, it would probably see him end his playing days with the La Liga team. It would be a fitting end of a trophy-laden career in which Martinez had also won the 2010 World Cup with Spain.

Bilbao have had a fine season in which they lifted the Spanish Supercup.