Barca coy on Martinez interest

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has refused to comment on the club’s interest in Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez.

The 23-year-old has been continually linked with a move to a bigger club, and both Barca and Bayern Munich are believed to be interested in signing him.

“If we had any interest in Javi Martinez, I wouldn’t admit it. If we were not interested in him, I wouldn’t admit it either,” Rosell told Barca’s official website.

“We have to go about these things with prudence and secrecy, because if we don’t the price of the player goes up and that hurts Barcelona.”

The Barca president then revealed the club intend to spend an estimated 40 million euros on transfers each off-season over the next few years.

“The average amount of money spent on new signings over the next few years needs to be 40 million euros a year. If we sign a player for 10 million, we’ll have 30 million extra to spend next year, or vice versa.”