Athletic Bilbao are ready to make Ander Herrera their highest paid player if he accepts their contract and a move away from Manchester United in the summer.
According to AS, Athletic Bilbao are in pursuit of their former player and current Manchester United midfielder, Ander Herrera. The report suggests Bilbao want to make Herrera their highest paid player if he decides to re-sign for them in the current transfer window.
The La Liga club are aware of interest from clubs such as AC Milan in their former charge but could make their signing for the fact that the midfielder prefers Athletic Bilbao over other interested clubs. There is a suggestion that if Herrera is to move away from Manchester United, then it would be to re-sign for his former club.
Herrera started his La Liga career playing for Real Zaragoza and later moved to Athletic Bilbao. In all, he featured in 214 games combined for the two clubs, with the player being a pivotal figure for the latter. Since moving to Manchester United, he has starred for the Premier League side in 161 games in all competitions.
His time at Manchester United has been a mixed one, having been a key figure at some junctures while being a bit-part player other times. It was more of the same for large parts of the 2017-18 season as well, but he made 39 appearances in all competitions with 26 of those coming in the league.
Herrera, by the end of last season, was one of Manchester United’s key players, and manager Jose Mourinho seems to be happy to keep him at the club. The departure of Marouane Fellaini will have a telling effect on Herrera’s prospects in the window, with the Portuguese keen to retain the rest of the midfielders ahead of next season.
Athletic Bilbao’s interest comes after there were no suggestions of a new deal for Herrera from Manchester United. In response, the La Liga outfit have drawn out a contract for Herrera which will make him the highest paid player at the club if he is to re-sign for them.
There are suggestions that Herrera might be interested in moving back to La Liga, especially to Bilbao, but he will only do so when his Manchester United contract expires in June 2019. Mourinho still considers Herrera a key player and will likely keep him during this summer window.
This stance from Herrera could well change in the coming weeks, depending upon Manchester United’s activity in the transfer window. The signing of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk and the persistent links with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio could have a telling effect on the Spaniard’s future.
If Manchester United are to make further midfield signings, Herrera could be pushed down the pecking order, which might see him change his idea of staying and move back to Athletic Bilbao if a deal goes through.
