Josep Martínez

Josep Martínez Riera (born 27 May 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Genoa and the Spain national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Martínez and the second or maternal family name is Riera.
Josep Martínez
Personal information
Full name Josep Martínez Riera
Date of birth (1998-05-27) 27 May 1998
Place of birth Alzira, Spain
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Genoa
Number 1
Youth career
Alzira
2015–2017 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Las Palmas B 55 (0)
2019–2020 Las Palmas 21 (0)
2020–2022 RB Leipzig 2 (0)
2022–2023 → Genoa (loan) 28 (0)
2023– Genoa 2 (0)
International career‡
2020 Spain U21 3 (0)
2021– Spain 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 August 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 June 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Las Palmas

Born in Alzira, Valencia, Martínez joined FC Barcelona's La Masia in July 2015, from hometown's UD Alzira.[1] On 19 July 2017, after finishing his formation, he signed for UD Las Palmas and was assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.[2]

Martínez made his senior debut on 20 August 2017, starting in a 1–1 home draw against UD Melilla.[3] He finished the campaign as a starter, as his side avoided relegation.

Martínez made his first team debut on 28 April 2019, playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–1 home routing of CD Lugo in the Segunda División championship.[4] On 17 June, he was definitely promoted to the main squad.[5]

RB Leipzig

On 22 January 2020, RB Leipzig reached an agreement with Las Palmas for the transfer of Martínez, effective as of 1 July.[6] He agreed to a contract until 2024 with his new club.[7]

Genoa

On 29 June 2022, Martínez was loaned to Genoa in Italy for the Serie B 2022–23 season.[8] The first part of the season was difficult for Josep since he had to gain a starting spot in the team. After some great saves like the one against Bari (26 December 2022), the decisive one almost at the photo finish in the home match against Reggina (31 March 2023), or the crazy one in the game vs F.C. Südtirol (1 May 2023) where, with a sort of instinct dance move he succeeded to deflect the ball with his heel, Josep become the first-choice goalkeeper at the expense of Adrian Šemper giving a crucial contribution to Genoa's return to Serie A allowing only 22 goals in 30 games.

On 9 June 2023, since the inclusion of a "sell-out" right following the promotion to Serie A, Josep was bought by Genoa for 3,5 million of euros.[9]

International career

Due to the isolation of some national team players following the positive COVID-19 test of Sergio Busquets, Spain's under-21 squad were called up for the international friendly against Lithuania on 8 June 2021.[10] Martínez made his senior debut in the match.[11]

Career statistics

International
As of match played 8 June 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Spain 202110
Total10

Honours

RB Leipzig

References
  1. "Josep Martínez, portero del Alzira, fichaje "tapado" para el Juvenil B del Barça" [Josep Martínez, Alzira goalkeeper, "capped" signing for the Juvenil B of Barça] (in Spanish). Fútbol Base Català. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  2. "Josep Martínez, nuevo portero de Las Palmas Atlético" [Josep Martínez, new goalkeeper of Las Palmas Atlético] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  3. "Las Palmas Atlético se estrena con empate en 2ºB (1–1)" [Las Palmas Atlético debut with a draw in 2ºB (1–1)] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  4. "Las Palmas golea y le complica la vida al Lugo" [Las Palmas rout and complicate Lugo's life] (in Spanish). Marca. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  5. "Miguel Ángel Ramírez: "Josep, Fabio, Kirian, Edu Espiau and Cristian Cedrés will sign professional terms with the first team squad"". UD Las Palmas. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  6. "Josep Martínez transferred to RB Leipzig". UD Las Palmas. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  7. "Josep Martínez joins RB Leipzig". RB Leipzig. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  8. "JOSEP MARTÍNEZ MOVES TO GENOA CFC ON LOAN". Genoa. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  9. "IL CLUB ESERCITA L'OPZIONE PER MARTINEZ". Genoa. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  10. "Oficial | Lista de convocados para el encuentro ante Lituania" [Official | Squad list for the match against Lithuania]. Royal Spanish Football Federation (in Spanish). 6 June 2021. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  11. "Spain youngsters impress in Lithuania rout". MARCA. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  12. Peeters, Thomas (23 May 2022). "A thriller in Berlin: how relentless RB Leipzig won their first major title". Red Bull. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
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