Athletic Club Bilbao made its first signing of the close season this Wednesday by capturing the signature of Deportivo Alaves striker Igor Martinez.

Athletic will pay an original fee of around 200,000 euros for the player (244,500 US dollars) but that will increase by almost as much again if he makes 25 appearances for the Basque club's first team.

It is another signing that shows Athletic keeps a close eye on young players who progress through the ranks of other teams in the Basque Country.

21-year-old Martinez is a product of the Alaves youth system and has spent the past three years in the first team squad of the club from the city of Vitoria.

During that period he made 87 first team appearances and scored 12 goals. Martinez can either play in attack or on the right of midfield. He follows the paces of Oscar De Marcos, who joined Athletic from Alaves 12 months ago and enjoyed an impressive first campaign in which he made 31 appearances.

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