Javi Martinez optimistic about his future, bittersweet he can’t play his last match for Bayern Munich in front of fans

After nine successful seasons at Bayern Munich, Javi Martinez will be leaving after the conclusion of this season, in which Bayern has already secured their ninth straight Bundesliga title. Martinez and the club have already officially announced that he will be leaving, along with David Alaba and Jerome Boateng, but it’s unclear, exactly, which club the Spaniard will go to, but he does want to return to Spain — he will more than likely wind up somewhere in La Liga.

Despite not knowing the exact destination after Bayern, in a recent interview with kicker (via Az), Martinez said he is really optimistic for his future. He’s open to everything and feels he’s got a decent amount of mileage left in the tank. “I’m open in all directions and looking for the best option for me. My legs decide. One year, three, ten? Let’s see. But I want to be physically up to date after my career as well,” he said.

Looking back on his time at Bayern, Martinez pinpointed the treble season of 2013, and specifically, the Champions League triumph over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley as his favorite title that he’s won with Bayern. “I had always dreamed of this trophy, and it was at the end of my first season,” he reminiscently described. At the time, he had been Bayern’s most expensive transfer, joining from Athletic Bilbao for €40 million in 2012. Since then, Dayot Upamecano, Leroy Sane, Corentin Tolisso and Lucas Hernandez have each costed more, but Martinez still recalled a lot of people being surprised with his high transfer fee at the time. “A lot of people said at the time that 40 million euros for a defensive midfielder was a lot of money,” he explained.

Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images

Coming full circle, his time at Bayern is coming to an end, and he will be able to lift the Meisterschale one last time before he leaves Munich. As is tradition, there will certainly be a plethora of Paulaner Weißbierdusches, but unfortunately, it will be in front of zero spectators at the Allianz Arena, as fans are still not allowed back in. The infection rates in Bavaria are still deemed to be too high for fans to be allowed back in.

For Martinez, it will be bittersweet to bow out in front of an empty stadium. “It will be a strange farewell because I would like to say goodbye to the fans in a full stadium. Not being able to say goodbye is bitter and sad,” Martinez said. Still, though, he said his tenure at Bayern was an honor. “It was an honor for me, I will always be FC Bayern’s biggest fan,” he exclaimed.

Danke fur alles, Javi — from all of us at BFW!

Photo by Mateo Villalba/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images