Tata Martino: Josef Martinez likely to leave Inter Miami in offseason
The South Florida side's head coach discussed the Venezuelan striker's future following the season-ending loss to Charlotte FC
Inter Miami is wasting no time in making plans for 2024, and one player who is not being included in them is Josef Martinez.
Inter Miami head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino told reporters on Saturday night minutes after a 1-0 season finale defeat to Charlotte FC that Martinez is unlikely to return to the South Florida team next season. Martino made the comment during his post-game press conference when asked why the Venezuelan striker did not travel for the Match-Day 34 showdown, adding more fuel to the growing belief that Luis Suarez will be Inter Miami-bound this winter.
“Josef did not travel because it is going to be very difficult for him to return to the institution next season,” Martino said in Spanish. “We had been talking about it, and the most prudent thing to do, and what was decided, was for him not to travel for this final game. It would have been a completely unnecessary risk (of injury for him).”
Martinez, 30, was in his first and only guaranteed season with Inter Miami in 2023. He signed a contract that included a team option for 2024 this past January after being released by Atlanta United, but his former side paid the bulk of his $4.4 million salary while Inter Miami covered a smaller portion. The distribution of the contract allowed Inter Miami to not have to use a Designated Player slot on him.
The center forward had his ups and downs with the South Florida side that finished in 14th place in the Eastern Conference, spending a good bit of the season as the first-choice option up top while scoring just seven goals and delivering one assist in 27 MLS appearances (20 starts).
Martinez found the back of the net an additional five times in other competitions, with three goals coming in Inter Miami’s successful run to the Leagues Cup title while the other two were in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal and final.
His looming exit coincides with ongoing rumors that have linked Inter Miami with a move for Suarez, the experienced Uruguayan striker who previously played with Herons superstar Lionel Messi at Barcelona.
The links between Suarez and Inter Miami have only intensified in recent weeks as Suarez’s Brazilian club, Gremio, has publicly announced his exit at the end of the year while Inter Miami manager Martino acknowledged earlier this week that there was interest in the 36-year-old attacker.
“No one has told us anything officially, but in our analysis of the upcoming season and the needs we might have, we have one scenario with Luis and one without Luis,” Martino said. “When the time comes that something official happens with Suarez’s situation and Inter Miami, we will be prepared to take the path that corresponds.”
Suarez was initially linked with a move to Inter Miami this past summer when the likes of Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba all signed with La Rosanegra in arguably the biggest transfer window coup in MLS history. Suarez, however, did not get out of his contract with Gremio despite multiple reports saying he attempted to.
Plagued by knee problems this year, Suarez has scored 16 goals in 36 games in Brazil’s Serie A and Gaucho 1 campaigns.