Liverpool has reached an agreement to sign Samuel Martínez from Atlético Nacional for 1 million euros, the clubs have settled terms that will see the 17-year-old move to England and sign a five-season contract when he reaches the age of majority.
The fee and length of the contract underline Liverpool’s commitment: 1 million euros for a five-season deal that, per the arrangement, will place Martínez in Liverpool’s academy rather than the first team immediately.
Martínez, an attacking midfielder who belongs to Atlético Nacional’s youth system, turned heads during the recent Copa Sudamericana Sub-17 2026, where La FM reported he was one of the scorers and recorded three assists in six matches. Those performances — and his displays for Colombia at youth level — prompted tracking from at least nine elite European clubs.
Among the teams linked to Martínez were Bayern Múnich, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham, reflecting widespread interest in the teenager; reports also named Atlético de Madrid and Benfica among the clubs monitoring him after the World Cup Sub-17.
Atlético Nacional has an agreement in place to sell Martínez to Liverpool, and the clubs expect the transfer to complete with the midfielder joining Liverpool’s academy once he reaches legal adulthood. Martínez has not made his professional debut for Atlético Nacional.
The club-level plan inside Colombia remains fluid. The sources say Atlético Nacional intends for Martínez to debut with the first team in the second semester of 2026, a timetable that sits uncomfortably alongside a binding agreement for his future move to Europe.
That tension frames the deal: Atlético Nacional appears to be balancing a short-term development goal — a first-team debut in the latter half of 2026 — against a longer-term financial and sporting decision to transfer the player now, while Liverpool secures him for its youth pathway.
Borussia Dortmund was reported by La FM to have followed Martínez closely, though that outlet also noted there was no official agreement or signed transfer with Dortmund; Liverpool’s pact with Atlético Nacional, by contrast, is described as definitive and priced at 1 million euros.
For Liverpool, the acquisition is an early investment in youth: a 17-year-old attacking midfielder with measurable output in a continental youth tournament and the pedigree to attract interest from multiple top clubs. For Martínez, it is a move that will send him to an academy system before he ever plays a professional match for Nacional.
The clearest outcome now is simple: Liverpool has secured a promising teenager on a five-season contract for 1 million euros, and Atlético Nacional plans to give him first-team minutes in the second semester of 2026 — a sequence that makes Martínez one of the more consequential young transfers of this youth cycle, even before he has made his professional debut.
