Iñigo Martínez leaves for Al-Nassr on a free transfer, freeing up €14 million in Barcelona's salary.

Barcelona has found an unexpected way to speed up the registration of players pending the corresponding federation license: the departure of Iñigo Martínez . The center back, who turned 34 on May 17 and was an absolutely key player for Hansi Flick in his first season in charge of the Blaugrana, has an irresistible offer on the table from Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia, the team where Cristiano Ronaldo currently plays.

One of the conditions for completing his departure is that he does so with a free transfer, something that Barcelona is willing to accept as a token of gratitude for his performance throughout his time at the club. This will also allow him to reduce his salary bill by €14 million, which would also facilitate the registration of some of the players still awaiting the corresponding federation licenses: Joan García , Wojciech Szczesny , Gerard Martín , Marcus Rashford , and Roony Bardghji , who was initially signed for the reserve team but is proving very popular with the German manager.

Iñigo Martínez's departure could also provide some relief for a Barça side still at odds with Marc-André ter Stegen . Joan Laporta 's anger with the goalkeeper, who refuses to sign the consent form to release his medical data to the LaLiga Medical Commission to determine his outage period following his back surgery, is monumental. In response to this attitude, the club has gone even further. Now, not only does he have an open case, but it has also decided to remove him from the captaincy, at least temporarily.

Speech at the Joan Gamper

The man tasked with taking over as first captain, for now, will be Ronald Araujo , whose name has been on the chopping block in recent months. The Uruguayan, in this case, is expected to give the traditional speech to the fans ahead of the Joan Gamper Trophy, which will be played next Sunday at the Johan Cruyff Stadium.

The decision largely disregards a dressing room that, naturally, rallied around the German during the Asian tour. But, of course, it has the approval of both Deco and Flick, despite the German coach also stating from South Korea that it is the team that must decide who the captains are. "FC Barcelona informs that, following the disciplinary proceedings opened against the player Marc-André Ter Stegen, and until this process is definitively resolved, the club, in agreement with the Sporting Directorate and the technical staff , has decided to temporarily remove him as the first-team captain," the Blaugrana club stated in a tremendously concise statement.

Ter Stegen's refusal to sign the consent form to share his medical data with LaLiga's Medical Commission, which is expected to determine, in principle, how long he will be sidelined after undergoing surgery to resolve a recurrence of his lower back problems that required surgery two years ago, has been the ultimate trigger for this decision, which breaks with the tradition established in recent years at the Barcelona club of leaving the selection of captains in the hands of the players themselves.

If the German's absence were to exceed four months, part of his salary could also be used to sign new players, including Joan García, who is expected to be the starter between the sticks this season. The German, however, had already hinted on social media, when he announced his intention to undergo surgery again, that his absence would be around three months. In 2023, the first time he had to undergo back surgery, he was actually only out for 65 days.