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Franz Beckenbauer, honorary president of Bayern Munich, believes the Bavarian club can sign Javi Martínez for the simple fact that they have enough money.

The 40 million Euros demanded by Athletic Bilbao, stipulated by the buyout clause in the midfielder’s contract, would be a record amount for the Bundesliga club, making it the source of some controversy in the German media.

Speaking to German TV station Sport 1, ‘Kaiser’ Beckenbauer gave his assurance that Bayern “had thought hard” about the decision to sign Martínez. He said he appreciated that the price for signing the midfielder was very high, but suggested that “30 or 40 million” was a drop in the ocean for Bayern Munich. According to the ex-footballer, the Bavarian club “can afford” the controversial signing.

Bayern’s Supervisory Board, responsible for approving the cost and conditions of all of the club’s signings, gave the green light for the Martínez transfer on Thursday. Bayern President, Uli Hoeness, has said that the club would know “in the next few days” whether or not the signing was going ahead.

Beckenbauer does not know the Athletic player personally, but told interviewers that “from the moment that Bayern want to sign him, he becomes something special.” It has been reported that Javi Martínez is prepared to take a 2 million euro pay cut per season at the club in order to bring down the price of the signing and enable the German club to afford the 40 million Euros being demanded by Athletic Club President, Josu Urrutia.