Which Bilbao player?

red thru&thru

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Mar 2, 2004
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Since our defeat to them we have been linked to at least 4 or 5 of their players. We will DEFENITELY attempt to sign at least 1 bilbao player. Im sure we will attempt to sign 3 or 4 of them and will come back with 1! But who is the question???

Who do you guys think?

I personally would like to see Muniain.
 
They beat us, they have pink slips on Park.
 
Martinez. Easy. He's what we need. Munain and Herrer(sp?) looked brilliant in both games but Martinez would be the right fit for us.
 

My apologise…Athletic Club. We like to be call MANCHESTER UNITED but everywhere else in europe we're just called Manchester!

They playing sporting today and no doubt our scouts, our ACTUAL scouts from the cafe i mean, will no doubt be at the match today. Will be interesting to see how they deal with the pressure of a semi-final.

Although i believe martinez would be a great signing i doubt we could get him. The others we might have better prospects of signing.
 
Martinez, Herrera (sp?), Muniain, Ituraspe. In that order for muppet-me.

I actually think Martinez is what we need least (Carrick can cover his position), but he's such a talent that if possible, we shouldn't miss out.
 
Since our defeat to them we have been linked to at least 4 or 5 of their players. We will DEFENITELY attempt to sign at least 1 bilbao player. Im sure we will attempt to sign 3 or 4 of them and will come back with 1! But who is the question???

Who do you guys think?

I personally would like to see Muniain.

Source?
 
Since our defeat to them we have been linked to at least 4 or 5 of their players. We will DEFENITELY attempt to sign at least 1 bilbao player. Im sure we will attempt to sign 3 or 4 of them and will come back with 1! But who is the question???

Who do you guys think?

I personally would like to see Muniain.


Definitely eh? I think someone's been playing too much champo.
 
Martinez, Herrera and Llorente would do lovely, thanks.

Going to City according to gossip pages this morning. Which doesn't actually mean anything. Just saying...
 
My apologise…Athletic Club. We like to be call MANCHESTER UNITED but everywhere else in europe we're just called Manchester!

They playing sporting today and no doubt our scouts, our ACTUAL scouts from the cafe i mean, will no doubt be at the match today. Will be interesting to see how they deal with the pressure of a semi-final.

Although i believe martinez would be a great signing i doubt we could get him. The others we might have better prospects of signing.

Apparently they don't like to be called Bilbao, the only source I could find to offer a reason suggested they feel that everyone should know who 'the' Athletic Club is, like if we say 'United' we expect not to have to say Manchester.

From Wikipedia

Sons of the Basque educated classes went to Britain to complete their studies in civil engineering and commerce. While in the United Kingdom these students developed an interest in football and on their return to Bilbao they began to arrange games with British workers. In 1898 students belonging to the Gymnasium Zamacois founded the Athletic Club, using the English spelling.

In 1941, the club changed its name to Atlético Bilbao, following a decree issued by Franco, banning the use of non-Spanish language names and scrapping the policy of only letting Basque-born players in the team (see origins of the "grandparent rule").

In December 1975, before a game against Real Sociedad, Iribar and the Real captain Ignacio Kortabarria, carried out the Ikurriña, the Basque flag and placed it ceremonially on the centre-circle. This was the first public display of the flag since the death of Francisco Franco.

I didn't see any mention of exactly when they changed their name back to the English spelling but it was probably shortly thereafter. That they take such pride in the English heritage of their club makes me think most Englanders would appreciate their name.
 
Martinez is the only player from them that I'm interested in. I think there are more suitable solutions for the others mentioned.
 
Either one of Martinez, Munain and Herrera would be a fine signing.

Herrera would be the player most suited to our needs.
 
Why do people just assume that these Athletic players will just storm out of there to move to a bigger club? For all we know Basque players have been very loyal in the past and rarely rushed out of Athletic. At the moment they're on the up, might make CL this season and if not, they will definitely push for it next year. I don't think the likes of Muniain, Herrera, Martinez and Llorente are certain to go.
 
Why do people just assume that these Athletic players will just storm out of there to move to a bigger club? For all we know Basque players have been very loyal in the past and rarely rushed out of Athletic. At the moment they're on the up, might make CL this season and if not, they will definitely push for it next year. I don't think the likes of Muniain, Herrera, Martinez and Llorente are certain to go.

Oh comeon we're talking about the chance of earning top money, win great honors and living in Manchester.
 
Would love Martinez here but if he became available, it'd be a bidding war and we're unlikely to compete with others i feel.
 
Why do people just assume that these Athletic players will just storm out of there to move to a bigger club? For all we know Basque players have been very loyal in the past and rarely rushed out of Athletic. At the moment they're on the up, might make CL this season and if not, they will definitely push for it next year. I don't think the likes of Muniain, Herrera, Martinez and Llorente are certain to go.

This is very true - players often stay with Bilbao due to the Basque loyalty.
They have had big players in the past that were coveted by many clubs in Europe but chose to stay with Athletic (Joseba Etxeberria and Julen Guerrero come to mind immedaitely).
That is not to say it is impossible to sign a Bilbao player, but there is no way that all these players are going to leave.
 
Martinez would be perfect for us. Midfield + very good cover if we have another raft of injuries at CB.

Would love to take Munain as Giggs replacement as well.
 
Oh comeon we're talking about the chance of earning top money, win great honors and living in Manchester.

They're probably not earning bad money there, not as much as they could at United but nevertheless far more than they could ever imagine in another profession.

They could win Europa League for their childhood club this season and perhaps achieve a CL spot for next season although it'll be tough to catch up on a six-point deficit.

Of course it'll be a tempting move but I'm not sure if any of them will really be dying to play for another club yet alone move abroad. As it's been pointed out, the likes of Etxeberria and Guerrero could have probably played for much better clubs abroad but stayed at Athletic.
 
Martinez. Easy. He's what we need. Munain and Herrer(sp?) looked brilliant in both games but Martinez would be the right fit for us.

Basically this, though Muniain is probably the most talented of them all. He'll be amazing in a few years.
 
Unitied spies will be in Portugal to look at Oscar De Marcos according to the Mirror.
 
He's a little jinky bastard like silva or gaitan who can play centrally and wide. He played wide right for Spain u-21s at the last tournament. I don't see how he'd fit our system really.

He puts in a great shift in CM. A good passer, box-to-box, covers a lot of ground. I thought him and de Marcos were outstanding vs us.
 
What the hell are you talking about. Herrera played in central midfield in U21.