Iker Muniain has been one of the next big things in Spanish football for the better half of a decade.
Injuries have seen the player’s progress stutter, but at 25 years of age he’s one of Athletic Club Bilbao’s top players and one they certainly wouldn’t want to lose.
The Basque club have a strict recruitment policy which sees them only able to sign players from the region. That means they try everything to keep their stars, including only letting them leave for usually inflated buyout clauses.
There’s an issue in that regard with Muniain, because his contract ends in June. Marca report Liverpool and Napoli have already made offers, and it would be assumed those offers are to the player for a free transfer next summer.
Liverpool have also been linked previously and the prospect of signing Muniain on a free transfer would certainly be tempting for many clubs.
However, Marca say Muniain would be leaning towards staying at Athletic, a club he debuted for at the age of 16, but there isn’t an agreement on renewal yet.
Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool would have to wait and see how those talks go.
