Athletic Bilbao Coach Ernesto Valverde has confirmed the club are interested in bringing Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi to San Mames.
Speaking after his side’s scoreless Copa del Rey clash with Malaga at La Rosaleda on Wednesday, Valverde also revealed he has other irons in the fire.
“Illarramendi is a very good player but there are players at big clubs that don’t want to come.
“There is always speculation and we know which players are on Athletic’s radar. There are four or five of them,” he admitted to reporters.
The Basques are trying to push through a loan deal for Illarramendi, although they still need to convince him to move to San Mames and Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is reluctant to let him depart the Santiago Bernabeu.
