Independiente Medellín Born in
Quibdó in the
Chocó Department, Martínez joined
Independiente Medellín's youth academy in 2001 until being called up to the first team for the
2004 Finalización. He made his debut on 3 October 2004, his 18th birthday, in a 2–2 draw against
Junior. His first professional goal came roughly a month later in a 1–1 draw against
Deportivo Pereira on 11 November. This was the last matchday of the regular season and his goal sealed Medellin's qualification into the playoffs. With three goals in the Finalizacion playoffs, Martinez looked like he had a bright future ahead, but the following seasons were very slow-paced. From 2005 to 2007, he scored 12 goals, only 2 per tournament. But the 2008 season was his breakthrough season under manager
Santiago Escobar, where he scored 11 goals as Medellin finished runner-up in December 2008 to
América de Cali. Martinez began the 2009 Apertura campaign in great form, scoring 4 goals in 4 matches. However, he suffered an injury in March 2009 before a Copa Libertadores match against America de Cali, which saw him miss the rest of the 2009 Apertura campaign, as Medellin had a rough campaign and finished in last place.
Chiapas Martínez attracted interest from South Korean club
Ulsan Hyundai as well as Argentine clubs
San Lorenzo de Almagro and
Racing Avellaneda. He initially signed a pre-contract with Ulsan Hyundai, but the transfer eventually fell through. As a result, Martínez was eventually signed by
Chiapas from the
Liga MX on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee in January 2010. He scored his first two goals with the club on 30 January in a 2–2 draw against
Tigres UANL. Two weeks later, he scored against
Pachuca, and then scored three in the next three games. He ended his first season with the club, the
2010 Torneo Bicentenario, with nine goals, placing him fourth in the top scorer's table. In August 2010, he had an ankle operation and was ruled out for a month. In the following season, the
2010 Apertura, he didn't perform well, only scoring two in fourteen appearances, but scored a match winner against
Atlas in the penultimate matchday to give Chiapas a spot in the playoffs, where they were eliminated by eventual champions
Santos Laguna. In the
2011 Clausura, Martinez missed most of the season due to an injury he suffered in the
Copa Libertadores match against
Alianza Lima on 27 January, which ruled him out for almost three months. In his return on 30 April, he scored a brace in a 4–1 victory against
Querétaro, but his team finished bottom of the table. However, in the Copa Libertadores, Chiapas had much better form and Martínez was a key player for them, scoring in both legs of the round of 16 encounter against Colombian club
Junior to help his team go through on away goals. In the first leg at
Estadio Víctor Manuel Reyna, he scored in a 1–1 draw, and then scored a double in the second leg, despite being shown a red card during the 3–3 draw in
Barranquilla. Chiapas were eventually eliminated by Paraguayan side
Cerro Porteño in the quarter finals, with the Colombian playing in the second leg. In the Apertura 2012 season, he scored eight goals, including braces against
San Luis and
Pumas UNAM, and added to his tally by scoring once in each leg of the playoffs against Santos, but Chiapas were eliminated. Martínez was named captain of the squad at the beginning of the
Clausura 2012 season, where he scored eight goals, with two braces again, this time in victories against Atlas and Queretaro. In the playoffs, Chiapas were paired up with Santos again, and Martinez scored a brace in the first leg, but his team were not able to get revenge and were eliminated by Santos again for the third time in eighteen months. At the end of the season, many European clubs were interested in the player, like
Liverpool.
Porto 2012–13 season On 7 July 2012, Porto announced that they had signed Martínez on a four-year contract worth €8.8 million, in addition to setting a €40 million release clause. On 11 August, he played his first competitive match in the
2012 Supertaça against
Académica de Coimbra, where he scored his first goal for the club, a match winning goal in the 90th minute. He was subsequently named as the man of the match for his performance in which he won his first title in Portugal. Martínez scored his first league goal on 25 August with a
Panenka penalty against
Vitória de Guimarães, with Porto winning the game 4–0. On 22 September against
Beira-Mar, he scored a bicycle kick from a chipped pass by fellow countryman
James Rodríguez. Against rivals
Sporting, he scored a back-heel volley in a 2–0 win. In the
Champions League group stage on 24 October, Martínez scored his first two goals in European competitions, during a match which ended in a 3–2 victory for Porto against
Dynamo Kyiv. Martínez continued his goal scoring streak in a 2–1 victory over
Estoril on 28 October, assisting
Silvestre Varela and scoring the game winner five minutes later. On 2 November, he scored two more goals in a 5–0 victory against
Marítimo. He was named the
SJPF Player of the Month for October and November. In December, Spanish sports newspaper
Marca ranked him number 8 in a list of the Top 10 South American players of 2012. Martínez scored five goals in January 2013: the only goal against Nacional on 5 January, in
O Clássico against rivals
Benfica on 13 January, a double ten days later in a 3–0 away victory against
Vitoria Setubal, and against
Gil Vicente on 28 January. By the halfway point of the league season, he had scored 14 goals in the first 15 league games, surpassing Falcao's numbers of 10 goals in 14 games. On 2 February, he scored a hat-trick against Vitória de Guimarães, which included two headers, making it his first hat-trick for Porto. He scored a brace on 23 February, including a penalty and a volley, to help Porto turn around a 0–1 deficit into a 2–1 victory against Rio Ave at
Estádio do Dragão. He was named the February
SJPF Player of the Month. In the final match of the league season against
Paços de Ferreira, Martínez sealed the 2–0 victory after scoring the second goal and assuring Porto's third consecutive league title, undefeated and one point ahead of rivals Benfica. The goal also marked his 26th goal in the league, securing him the
Bola da Prata. Following his debut season in Europe,
ESPN noted Martínez as one of the best signings for the 2012–13 season.
2013–14 season In the
2013 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Martínez scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory against
Vitória de Guimarães at the
Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, claiming his second Portuguese Supercup in a row. In the opening league match against
Vitória de Setúbal on 18 August, Martínez scored the third goal in a 3–1 win. He continued the season in excellent form, adding four more goals in the next four matchdays. On 6 October, he scored a double against recently promoted
Arouca in a win by the same score. He scored the only goal of the game in the
Europa League round of 16 first leg against Napoli on 13 March, and Porto eventually qualified to the next round by winning 3–2 on aggregate. On 19 January 2014, Martínez scored his 50th goal in all competitions for Porto in a 3–0 win over Vitória. On 6 April, he scored a double, including a penalty and an assist, in a 3–1 victory against Académica. He ended up being the league's top scorer for the second consecutive season with 20 goals, becoming the first player to be top scorer for two consecutive seasons since
Mario Jardel from 1997 to 2000 in the process.
2014–15 season After the 2014 World Cup, Martinez was linked with several Premier League clubs, Valencia, and Napoli. However, in August 2014, he extended his contract with Porto until 2017. On 30 September, he came on as a substitute in a
Champions League group stage match away to
Shakhtar Donetsk, and his team was trailing 2–0 to the Ukrainian hosts at the 85th minute. He scored two goals in four minutes; in the 89th minute, he scored a penalty and then equalised in added time to level the scoreline at 2–2, which completed a comeback that was dubbed as "stunning" and "remarkable" by
UEFA. On 5 November, he opened the scoring in a 2–0 away victory against
Athletic Bilbao, which qualified Porto to the round of sixteen. Martinez was voted Player of the Month for December 2014 and January 2015. On 6 March 2015, he suffered a calf muscle tear in a league match against Braga, which caused him to be ruled out for a month and miss six matches. His return from injury came in the
Champions League quarter-final first leg on 15 April 2015 against
Bayern Munich, where he scored the last goal in a 3–1 victory and won the penalty that
Ricardo Quaresma scored for the opening goal after being fouled by goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer. Martínez netted again in the second leg six days later, heading a consolation from
Héctor Herrera's cross as Porto lost 1–6 at the
Allianz Arena, thus being eliminated from the competition. On 10 May, Martinez scored a double, the second being a spectacular bicycle kick, in a 2–0 victory against Gil Vicente. He ended the
2014–15 campaign with 21 goals and won the golden boot award for the third consecutive time.
Atlético Madrid Martínez was linked heavily with Arsenal, Milan, and other European clubs again following his departure from Porto, but on 27 June 2015, he confirmed that he was moving to Spanish side
Atlético Madrid. Four days later, it was announced on Porto's official website that Atlético were willing to pay the full €35 million release fee for the Colombian player. On 15 July, Atlético officially announced the transfer, and he signed a four-year contract running until 2019. He was officially presented at the
Vicente Calderón Stadium on 26 July in front of around 10,000 people. Martínez made his
La Liga debut on 22 August, being substituted after an hour for
Fernando Torres in a 1–0 home win over
Las Palmas. A week later, Martínez came off the bench and scored his first goal for Atlético in a 3–0 victory over
Sevilla. However, after only scoring once in seven games, he began to receive criticism from the press, failing to score more than five goals in seven games for the first time since moving to Europe in 2011. On 21 October, he scored his first
UEFA Champions League goal for the club against
Astana in a 4–0 win, and four days later, he opened the scoring in a 2–1 victory against
Valencia. On 12 November, while playing for the Colombia national team against
Chile, he suffered an ankle injury and had to be taken off the field on a
stretcher, which ruled him out for a month. He made his return on 30 December in a 0–2 away win against
Rayo Vallecano, entering the pitch in the 70th minute and assisting
Antoine Griezmann's goal in the last minute. He struggled to adapt to
Diego Simeone's playing style, as he was more accustomed to playing as a lone striker with Porto. The press labelled him "a flop" and some of his teammates said he was not confident, with club president
Enrique Cerezo adding that the player "wasn't at the level of the club".
Guangzhou Evergrande On 3 February 2016, Martínez was transferred to
Chinese Super League side
Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao with a fee of €42 million, a record for an Asian team. The record was broken two days later, when
Alex Teixeira signed for
Jiangsu Suning for £38.4 million (roughly €50 million). On 24 February, he made his debut against South Korean club
Pohang Steelers. On 6 March, he scored on his Chinese Super League debut in an eventual 2–1 loss away at
Chongqing Lifan. A week later, he scored and gave an assist in a 3–0 win against
Changchun Yatai. He had another ankle surgery in July 2017. In March 2018, Guangzhou Evergrande terminated his contract and released him because of his chronic injuries, believing that there was no point of paying his salary if he could not play.
Portimonense On 31 August 2018, Martínez returned to Portugal's top flight, joining
Portimonense on a season-long loan. The deal was subsequently made permanent, but only until the end of 2019. He made his debut in a 3–2 victory against Vitória de Guimarães on 23 September, playing the last 17 minutes of the match. On 3 November, he scored his first goal for the club, a penalty, in a 1–1 draw against
Belenenses. On 2 December, he scored in a 3–2 victory against
Tondela, but was substituted with an injury in the second half. On 7 December, he returned to the
Estádio do Dragão for the first time since leaving Porto, playing 75 minutes and receiving a standing ovation by the fans and players as he was substituted. A week later, he scored a brace in a 3–1 win against Vitória de Setúbal. On 11 May 2019, he scored an 88th-minute winner against Maritimo in a 3–2 victory. In January 2020, he signed a new contract with the Portuguese club, keeping him until 2022. His last match for the club was on 26 July 2020, where he wore the captain's armband in a 2–0 victory against
Desportivo Aves. He made 24 appearances and scored once for the 2019–20 season, where Portimonense finished 17th in the table and were set to be relegated, but avoided the drop due to 16th-placed Vitoria Setubal failing to provide documentation for the following season. Still troubled by his chronic ankle injuries, Martínez left Portimonense in August 2020, stating that he wanted to return to Independiente Medellín. On 7 December 2020, after spending six months as a free agent, Martínez officially announced his retirement. ==International career==