The name Joan Martinez probably doesn’t ring a bell, even if you’re a Real Madrid fan. It must be said that the central defender, who is only 16 years old, is the surprise guest of this Madrid summer tour. The Valencia native, already an undisputed player with the U19s and the Youth League team despite his age, thus had the opportunity to travel to the United States with his elders.
And the feedback is quite positive. On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, he had the opportunity to play the second half of the friendly match against AC Milan, and he showed some interesting things. “Very good minutes for the 16-year-old pearl. He cut off a very dangerous action from Saelemaekers with a lot of class, in a complicated position. And he almost scored with a header from a corner.”explains the daily AS. He also reportedly showed some very good things during the team’s training sessions this preseason.
A place in A?
Having arrived at the club just a year ago from Levante – Barça and other big clubs also coveted him – Joan Martinez has caught everyone’s eye during this 2023/2024 season. A particularly tall defender (1m90) and strong in duels and aerial play, he is also very comfortable technically and is already compared to Sergio Ramos internally. He is also very good at reading the game and anticipating. Above all, he arrives in a context where the first team lacks central defenders. After the departure of Nacho, who has not yet been replaced and may not be, and with David Alaba uncertain for the recovery, Martinez could make a place for himself in the first team.
A hypothesis that may seem far-fetched at first glance given the player’s age, but the sensations he has left so far are so positive and impressive that it is clearly being considered by the technical staff. He is already considered better than central defenders of Castilla who are a few years older than him, such as Raul Asencio and Jacobo Ramón. One thing is certain, he should at least play with Castilla in D3, under the orders of Raul. And if he performs, he should very quickly experience the same meteoric rise as his counterpart Pau Cubarsi at Barcelona…
