The Spanish World Cup winner admits his game is "more oriented to being physical" and insists that it is "strange" that the Premier League champions are in the Europa League

JAVI MARTINEZ

D.O.B: September 2, 1988

AGE: 23



CLUB STATS LA LIGA APPEARANCES

192

EUROPEAN APPEARANCES

19

TOTAL APPEARANCES 235

TOTAL GOALS

26

INTERNATIONAL STATS U21 APPEARANCES

24

U21 GOALS

1

SENIOR DEBUT vs Saudi Arabia, 2010 SENIOR APPEARANCES 7



By Ashish Sharma

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez has suggested that he could be interested in a future move to the Premier League after admitting that the English game suits his style of play.The Spain international, who picked up a World Cup winners' medal in 2010, has been linked with the likes of Liverpool and both Manchester clubs in recent times having burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old with the Basque club back in 2006.Martinez, who will line up against Manchester United in the Europa League last 16 first leg on Thursday, is enjoying life in La Liga but claims that the Premier League could be more suitable for his combative style."Maybe my football is quite physical, it's certainly more oriented to being physical," he told"But I think that is also a valid style here in Spain. Here there are many players who play with my same characteristics."Perhaps the football in England is more suitable but I am doing very well here so that's not a problem for me."Regarding the rumours of a move away from Bilbao, Martinez added: "I try not to pay any attention to all the things that I see or read. In the end these are just rumours of newspapers and the media."The reality is that as yet nothing clear has come my way. No club has made an offer to me or to my agent and so I prefer not to go round in circles with this."I am just concentrating now on the end part of the season and just focusing on giving 100 per cent of my thinking and energy to the club."Ahead of the clash at Old Trafford on Thursday, the 23-year-old also stated his surprise at United's failure to reach the knockout phase of the Champions League following their failure to claim a draw in their final group game against Basel."I really was surprised at United's exit. You can’t imagine a club of the calibre of Manchester United not getting through the group stages," he said."This is a club that always aspires to be there till the end. To be in the final or the semi-finals, that is always what they have done and so it’s strange to see that they didn’t get through this year."