Newcastle United have won the race to sign the Ecuadorian teeenager.
Newcastle United are closing in on the signing of 16-year-old winger Johan Martinez from Independiente del Valle of Ecuador.
The Magpies will pay a reported £2.6m to sign Martinez, though he won’t officially join until he turns 18 in May 2027 due to transfer rules involving young players from abroad.
The same situation recently unfolded with Georgian youngster Vakhtang Salia, who agreed to join from Dinamo Tbilisi in October 2024 but had to wait until he turned 18 last August to complete the move.
Martinez hails from one of Ecuador’s top academies in Independiente del Valle, famous for producing several players who have gone on to have success in Europe, most notably midfielder Moises Caicedo.
Caicedo joined Brighton & Hove Albion from Independiente for just £4million in 2021 before being sold to Chelsea two-and-a-half years later for over £100million.
Fabrizio Romano drops Newcastle United ‘here we go’
Last week, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano wrote on X: “Newcastle have agreed deal in principle to sign Independiente del Valle winger Johan Martinez, here we go! Ecuadorian 2009 born talent will join as soon as he turns 18, after verbal agreement in place.
“Clubs hope to sign all documents this week.”
Now Romano has provided an update as the Magpies push to finalise the move.
All documents have been counter signed today for Johán Martínez’s move to Newcastle from Independiente del Valle,” he wrote on Tuesday. “Here we go, confirmed.”
Ross Wilson’s ‘first’ Newcastle United signing
The move for Martinez comes after Ross Wilson - appointed sporting director last October - expanded Newcastle’s scouting network in South America with the appointment of Thomas Federspiel in December as the club’s new global talent scout in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.
The deal would mark the first official transfer agreement of Wilson’s tenure - though he’ll be hoping to have a few fresh faces through the door by the time Martinez arrives.
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