New Barcelona signing Inigo Martinez: I'd highlight my competitive spirit

The Basque centre back joins on a free transfer from Athletic Bilbao after his contract expired at the end of June.

Speaking at his official presentation on Thursday, he said that "I am very happy to be part of this big family. I have received a wonderful welcome from the very first day."

After a decade of playing in his native Basque Country, it wasn't easy to decide to move elsewhere. "But when Barça call, other teams fade into the background" he explained. He added that his conversations with Xavi were also a huge factor in deciding to come to Catalonia.

Martínez insists that one of his initial priorities will be to get the hang of the Catalan language. Asked to describe what else he can offer the club, he told the press conference that "I'd highlight my competitive spirit. I'm here to work like everyone else. I know where I am, what this club is about, and what I have to do."

His injury means he hasn't been able to train with his new team-mates yet. "I've been carrying that trouble for some time" he said. "But I can really feel an improvement lately. I wouldn't like to say how long it will be before I'm back on the pitch, but I had a check some weeks ago and the healing process is developing well. The important thing is to recover. I haven't stopped exercising all holidays."

President Joan Laporta and director of football Mateu Alemany were also in attendance. The former described how much the club wanted to secure the services of Iñigo Martínez, insisting that "our defence will be much stronger with him in it."

Alemany, revealed that Iñigo's name has been on the Barça agenda for over a year. "We knew we were faced by a mid-term need to reinforce the centre of the defence" he said. "His name was the first to come up when we started talking about players who could do a similar job to Piqué."