<
>

Athletic Bilbao spend half of Aymeric Laporte fee to land Inigo Martinez

Athletic Bilbao have moved swiftly to sign Spain defender Inigo Martinez after Aymeric Laporte departed for Manchester City.

Laporte joined City after Bilbao confirmed on Monday that his buyout clause, believed to be around €65 million, had been paid.

However, La Liga side Athletic have quickly lined up a replacement in Martinez, who arrives from Basque rivals Real Sociedad for a fee of €32m.

The 26-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half year deal with an €80m euros buyout clause, and will be presented to the media on Tuesday evening.