It must be extremely difficult for a club like Athletic Club Bilbao to operate with such a strict scouting network. They’re only able to recruit players who have a Basque background meaning the talent pool is very limited.
That would explain why Ander Herrera is constantly linked with a return to the La Liga club because there’s not exactly a world size pool of Basque players out there for them to scout or experiment.
But, it’s a credit to Bilbao that they’re competing at La Liga level given those conditions.
Earlier this year it was reported in Spain that Bilbao were looking at the possibility of signing Herrera on a free transfer once his Manchester United contract expires.
However, United took up the opportunity to extend Herrera’s deal by a further season.
According to Marca, as per Sport Witness, Bilbao are not prepared to give up on Herrera just yet.
It’s going to be interesting to see next season how much game time Herrera gets with Fred’s arrival. We fully expect the Brazilian to partner Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in midfield next season.
