Athletic Bilbao are confident that Manchester United will not be able to steal director of football Mikel González.
That’s according to journalist Nico Rodríguez, via Estadio Deportivo, who insists that Bilbao are confident of keeping the 37-year-old in Spain.
A report yesterday from El Chiringuito explained that Manchester United are interested in Gonzalez as they seek a replacement for Dan Ashworth, who left his role at the club December.
That has naturally been picked up on in Spain, where Estadio Deportivo cover the latest on the matter today.
They say that despite ‘strong interest’ from Manchester United, Athletic are ‘very calm’ about the situation and are sure that Mikel González will not abandon their project.
The Spanish side believe that despite the ‘siren calls’ of the Premier League, he will remain where he is. This, according to Rodríguez, has come via internal sources at the Spanish side.
“I have made a call and Athletic Club are very calm, very calm,” he said during an appearance on El Chiringuito.
“They know that it is normal for good work to arouse the interest of big clubs, but they have told me that they are very calm, that they know that Mikel González is 100% no.
“They have literally told me that he is 1000% committed to the Athletic project and that they have no doubt that he is not going to leave Athletic. At Athletic they do not give him any importance and they are clear that he is going to stay.”
Whether that brings a swift end to Manchester United’s apparent interest remains to be seen in the coming weeks.
If they are looking for a new director of football, then it would not be surprising to see them go for the Athletic chief given the fine work he’s done at the club in the last few years.
It’s debatable if Manchester United are on the hunt, though, with the Ashworth affair having proven to be a disastrous one and most questioning whether they’ll go down that route again.
