By Steven Northover
Up until around 48 hours ago, Newcastle looked the most likely to get their man with Osasuna accepting an offer from the Magpies before The Reds activated the release clause of £34.5M which saw Victor Munoz choose to move to Anfield.
A product of Barcelona's legendary La Masia, the young winger has long been a sort after commodity across Europe, with a return to either Barcelona or Real Madrid (who he made his professional debut for in the Club World Cup last season) seeming possible at points.
Munoz: Versatile & Promising
Credit: This is Anfield
Victor Munoz is a 22-year-old winger, bought in for around €40m from La Liga strugglers Osasuna. But don't let his former clubs struggles paint a picture of how good he is - or what to expect in the future. Viewed as a ‘’multifunctional attacker', Munoz can play anywhere across the attacking midfielder, but is perhaps best suited to play on the wing. Supporters of a certain vintage will perhaps be reminded of Craig Bellamy (sans golf clubs) - a small, but stocky, attacker who will use speed and skill to break through opposition defences.
Despite his age, and the poor performance of his club side last season, Munoz was one of best dribblers in Europe, culminating in a call up for the Spanish National Side for this Summer's World Cup. Whilst there could be some criticism towards his overt creative threat, with just 12 goal contributions last season, once again Osasuna's own lack of quality may point to a reason why - that is all to say that Munoz has been bought into Liverpool to be an effective replacement for Mohammed Salah, and not just part of the replacement.
Credit: Real Madrid
Such is the high regard that the Reds see the young Spaniard, that both Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes both played central roles in his pursuit - with Liverpool's medical team also flying out to Spain's training base in Atlanta to complete his medical, so that the deal could be completed as soon as possible.
The speed to which Liverpool have acted, and the hands on approach that senior members of the club had in the transfer, may point to a concerted effort to get the deals ‘right’ this summer, following the perceived failings of last year - not to mention criticism of both Richard Hughes and Martin Edwards around said transfers. So with Munoz through the door, and Yan Diomande looking increasingly likely to join after the World Cup, this summer already looks like an exciting for the club.
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