In July 2024, Inter paid Genoa a reported 13.5 million euros for a goalkeeper who would mostly sit. Nobody pretended otherwise. Josep Martinez arrived as Yann Sommer's deputy and his eventual heir. Two years on, the heir part is still pending. In that time the Spaniard has also lived through something far heavier than a spell on the bench: a road accident in October 2025 in which an 81 year old man died. An honest account of where Martinez stands in 2026 has to cover both.
The Basics
| Full name | Josep Martinez Riera |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 May 1998, Las Palmas, Spain |
| Age | 28 |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Position | Goalkeeper, right footed |
| Club | Inter Milan (since July 2024) |
| Contract until | 30 June 2029 |
| Spain | 1 senior cap (2021) |
| Estimated net worth | 8 million to 12 million euros (Icon Polls estimate) |
A La Masia Education, a Las Palmas Start
Martinez learned the position at Barcelona's La Masia, which sounds grander than it turned out. Like most keepers who come through that academy, he never got near the Barcelona first team. So in 2017 he went home. UD Las Palmas, the club from his own city in the Canary Islands, gave him his senior start, and his performances there were enough to draw interest from Germany.
Leipzig Was a Waiting Room
RB Leipzig signed him in 2020. The Bundesliga chapter is quick to summarise because first team chances were scarce. His one senior Spain cap came in 2021, during these years. Then Italy, and the move that changed everything.
Genoa Made Him
He joined Genoa on loan, and the deal became permanent for a reported 3.5 million euros in July 2023. The 2023/24 Serie A season was the first time he was a genuine number one in a major league, and he was consistent enough to be counted among the better goalkeepers in Italy. He's a sound shot stopper, but the quality that really sells him is his calm with the ball at his feet. Top clubs now pay for keepers who can start attacks, not just stop them.
Inter certainly paid. On 9 July 2024 they signed him for around 13.5 million euros, close to four times what Genoa had spent a year earlier.
The Patience Problem
This is where the story stalls. Across his first two seasons in Milan, Martinez made just over a dozen appearances in all competitions. In 2025/26 he started only three Serie A matches. Sommer, the experienced Swiss international, kept the job while Inter chased the title and played in the Champions League.
The bright spot was the Coppa Italia. Cristian Chivu made Martinez his cup goalkeeper, and he was strong in the semi final win over Como. It's a small sample. It's also the clearest sign yet that the coach trusts him in games that matter.
Our view: a five year contract handed to a 26 year old was built for a handover, and Sommer is in the later stage of his career. The 2026/27 season always looked like the pivot point. If Martinez is still only the cup keeper by the end of it, the question of whether he should look elsewhere gets very hard to dodge.
The Morning in Fenegro
On 28 October 2025, Martinez was driving to Inter's training centre at Appiano Gentile when his car struck an 81 year old man in Fenegro, in the province of Como. According to Italian police statements reported by Reuters, the man was travelling in an electric wheelchair on a cycle path beside the road when the wheelchair appeared to veer into the path of the car. Early investigations suggested he may have suffered a sudden medical episode.
Martinez stopped immediately and, with other motorists, tried to help. Emergency services, including an air ambulance, arrived quickly, but the man died at the scene. Martinez was uninjured and was described as being in shock. Inter cancelled a scheduled press conference and offered condolences to the family.
As Italian law requires in cases like this, Martinez was formally placed under investigation. By December 2025, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the magistrates' findings significantly reduced the likelihood of criminal responsibility on his part. We won't speculate beyond that reporting. The first thing to say about that morning is that a family lost someone. Football comes a long way second.
Contract, Value and an Honest Estimate
Martinez is tied to Inter until 30 June 2029. Major transfer data platforms put his value at between 7.4 million and 8.8 million euros, well below the fee Inter paid. That drop is about minutes, not ability. Goalkeeper valuations run conservative anyway, and a backup's run lower still. Give him a full season as a starter, at Inter or elsewhere, and that number should recover.
Inter have never published his wage, and we're not going to invent one. As a senior squad member at a Champions League club on a five year deal, he'll be on solid Serie A terms, though below what an established number one at the same level earns. Winning the shirt would change that.
Icon Polls estimates his net worth at between 8 million and 12 million euros. That's built from close to a decade of senior football at Las Palmas, Leipzig, Genoa and Inter, plus whatever commercial income he has. No official figure exists, so treat it as a reasoned estimate rather than a fact.
What Has to Change
Not much on his side, honestly. The Genoa season showed what Martinez is when he plays every week, and the Coppa Italia run suggested he hasn't lost it. What he needs is the shirt, and that depends on Sommer, Chivu and timing more than on anything he can control. Off the pitch he keeps his private life private, and after the year he's had, that seems entirely reasonable.
Keepers rarely make the all time conversations, which is half the fun of arguing about them. If you have a view on who belongs among the greats, cast your vote in our best football players of all time poll.
A Few Answers
How old is Josep Martinez?
He is 28. He was born in Las Palmas on 27 May 1998.
Was he charged over the October 2025 accident?
He was formally placed under investigation, which is standard in Italy. In December 2025, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the magistrates' findings significantly reduced the likelihood of criminal responsibility.
Did he ever play for Barcelona's first team?
No. He came through the La Masia academy but began his senior career at Las Palmas in 2017.
