04/26/2024 8:07 p.m.
Iker Muniain has been on everyone’s lips in the last few hours. Last Wednesday, the midfielder said goodbye to the Athletic Bilbao, a club of which he is the captain and which he will leave at the end of the season. News that not only affected the Basque club, but also Riverbecause the Spaniard is a self-confessed CARP fan and has already shown his interest in coming to play in Argentina.
But where did this fanaticism for the Millionaire come from? In In 2012, the Spaniard revealed his love for the club and said that his passion originated from knowing and listening to the club’s fans: “River is a team that I have always liked, especially because of the great fans it has, always cheering for the team.. The truth is that I admire him very much.”
His passion for the club has no limits. So much so, that for the final of the Copa Libertadores 2018, the midfielder escaped from the Athletic camp and entered the Santiago Bernabéu disguised as “barrabrava”so that no one would recognize him. All of these antecedents are well known to the Millo fans, who grew fond of him from a distance, and also to the millionaire leaders, although there has still been no formal approach.
Muniain with River’s jacket.
Muniain’s anecdote in the River – Boca final
Muniain and his departure from Athletic Bilbao
Muniain leaves the club of his life after winning the Copa del Rey. They had tempted him with offers during the European winter transfer market, but he wanted to stay to try to get one last title. His contract ends at the end of the season and he feels that the consecration closed a chapter in his career, but he believes that at 31 years old he still has a lot of football to give.
With little experience in the last year, Muniain wants to treat himself at the end of his career and reach a club that offers him more playing time and prominence. And as several Spanish media indicate, another European destination does not appear in his mind, but rather looking for a more distant adventure, among which River could be.
Economics and football are, ultimately, the two issues that could define whether the player ends up arriving or not. It is clear that the Argentine market is very far from what the MLS, Arab countries, and even closer ones such as Mexico and Brazil can offer. Furthermore, taking into account that he had little filming in recent seasons, in the event of a rapprochement, it will be necessary to see if Demichelis is interested in having him for the hottest semester of the year.
Muniain’s emotional goodbye
Muniaín with the Copa del Rey AFP)
Muniain leaves Athletic after 15 years in the first team, in which he debuted at 16. He played 557 games (second most appearances in the club’s history), scored 75 goals and won three titles.: two Spanish Super Cups (one of them against Messi’s Barcelona) and the recent Copa del Rey. Furthermore, in the 2011/12 season he played in the Europa League final, with the remembered Loco Bielsa team.
“You have been the best of my life, but now, my love, the time has come to separate us,” he said in a video that the Basque club published on its social networks, where they already bid him farewell with honors. “It has been something incredible. The communion we have shown between fans and team shows that we are truly unique in the world,” she added.
