For Gerard: Happy birthday and good luck in your career. Sincerely, Paolo Maldini," were the words written on the specially dedicated shirt given by the AC Milan legend. While the player's fond nickname may have initially started as light-hearted humour, Martin has stepped up his game and provided some good performances for Barcelona at centre-back to the point where he appears to be ahead of even Ronald Araujo.
In recent days, the name of Gerard Martin has been associated with AC Milan. Reports have pointed to interest from the Italian giants in the FC Barcelona defender With the Rossoneri in the market for a versatile defender, the 23-year-old Spaniard has emerged as a target after proving himself at left-back and as a left-sided centre-back under Hansi Flick this season.
The German tactician had tried the 23-year-old left-back in the role back in pre-season when Inigo Martinez was dealing with discomfort before leaving the club for Al Nassr. Martin, to his credit, has taken to the role well and done enough to impress the Blaugrana coaching staff. Martin to start at centre-back again? So much so that SPORT reports that Flick is considering repeating the tactic once again tomorrow when Barcelona host Atletico Madrid at the Spotify Camp Nou.
