BUENOS AIRES: Sources in Argentina say that Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, two of Saudi Arabia’s biggest clubs, are ‘in a race’ to sign Atlanta United’s Argentinean attacking midfielder, Gonzalo ‘Pity’ Martinez.
“There is a real battle for his services,” the source told BabaGol. “This Friday (August 28) Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr each offered him contracts until 2023. Both clubs are willing to pay $20 million for the player”.
Pity Martinez joined MLS’ Atlanta United in 2019 for $17.3 million from Argentinean giants River Plate. Martinez was the player who scored the third goal in the famous Superlásico Libertadores final, and was chosen as CONMEBOL Best South American Player of the Year. This upcoming deal attracted a lot of attention all along the American continent from South to North. After all, it’s not every day that the MLS champions are luring the best player in South America before he is heading to Europe.
Despite the hype, Martinez failed to make a serious impact in his first MLS season, as Atlanta struggled under Dutch coach Ronald de Boer, whom Martinez couldn’t create a common language with.
In 2020, the player is showing genuine signs of gaining back his form. In nine games he scored four goals and passed three assists. This could be the result of de Boer being sacked as the team’s head coach.
Martinez has been linked to a club from the Persian Gulf in the past, Al-Ain from the United Arab Emirates. Now, it seems that the Argentinean is likely to become a favoured target for Ainawy’s neighbours.
The 2019/20 season in Saudi Arabia is about to end, with Al-Hilal retaining the title after the yellow rivals won it in the last term. It is the Blues’ 16th league title.
In the MBS Pro League, each team is allowed to have eight foreign players. Al-Nassr currently has seven foreigners in the squad but will look to make changes, especially in a case of a title loss.
Al-Hilal on the other hand, has only six and is still open for recruitment for the next Saudi season. In the AFC Champions League, Saudi teams are allowed to include three foreign players + one foreign Asian player.
If Pity Martinez is indeed on his way to Saudi Arabia and Al-Hilal, his arrival to the Blues may hint on the future departure of Italian Sebastian Giovinco or Peruvian Andre Carillo.
If the deal will go through under these conditions, this might be the most expensive transfer in Saudi football history, after Ahmed Musa signed for Al-Nassr from Leicester City in 2018, for $19.6m.
Photo via Atlanta United official Twitter account.
