Victor Munoz has opened up about how his transfer to Liverpool last month ‘happened faster than expected’.
As reported by Keith Downie, the Spanish winger was on the verge of completing a deal to join Newcastle in June, until the Reds accelerated their own move for him and agreed to pay his £34.5m release clause with Osasuna in full.
A phone call from new LFC head coach Andoni Iraola a few days before completion of the transfer is understood to have been a significant turning point which ultimately swayed him towards Anfield, with the move being finalised while the 23-year-old is at the World Cup in North America.
In an interview with DAZN (via DAVEOCKOP), Munoz admitted that he’d wanted to simply focus on his recovery from an ongoing muscle injury until the opportunity to join Liverpool came up and he was pressed into making a decision.
The winger said: “It happened faster than expected. I was here, focused on my recovery, and I didn’t want to hear anything until it was something concrete and there was a decision to make. It was very quick. The opportunity came up and I gave the OK.”
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Some transfers can take months to complete. Some can be pursued for several months without ever being completed. With Munoz and Liverpool, it was sorted in a matter of days.
The haste with which FSG completed the signing of Munoz was all the more welcome after the Reds’ pursuit of Yan Diomande ended once the Ivory Coast international indicated his preference to join Paris Saint-Germain instead.
Wide attacking additions were (and continue to be) paramount at Anfield this summer, and getting one through the door early in the transfer window will no doubt come as a huge relief to Iraola, especially after his apparent personal intervention.
Liverpool fans will have to wait another little while to see their new signing in action for the club, with Spain still involved at the World Cup and Munoz due to be granted a three-week break once his country’s participation at the finals has concluded.
Let’s hope that his integration into the Reds’ squad will be fairly seamless and we’ll soon get to enjoy him making a telling impact for his new club once the season begins!
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