David Moyes has revealed that Real Sociedad would be interested in bringing back Asier Illarramendi from Real Madrid this summer.
The Basque midfielder has struggled to live up to expectations at the Santiago Bernabeu following his record-breaking €32.2m transfer two years ago, and the former Manchester United manager admits his side’s former charge is a target as he steps up his plans for next season.
“We have to win games on a more regular basis,” he said at a Press conference ahead of La Real’s meeting with Villarreal on Saturday.
“Villarreal are a good team, which started the season strongly, but they’ve had a long season. I had a similar situation at Everton.
“We had a good run but expected a difficult April. It’s important to finish the season with momentum.
“Next year we want to qualify for Europe, and I want to see [signs of our intent] now, but away from home we have to change.
“We didn’t play well at Elche and we accept that. We haven’t done well away from home, nor have we in previous years.
“The players trained hard and tried hard at Elche. [Throughout my time in San Sebastian], they’ve showed commitment and determination and their attitude is first class.
“We play very differently at home than away, and [on Saturday] we’ll be at our best.
“I hope [La Real] give me a good birthday present! We’ll do what we can to have a positive performance against good opponents.
“[Saturday] isn’t revenge [for the 4-0 defeat earlier in the season], it’s just our next game. We crumbled after they scored their first goal, but we’ve improved since then.
“The next game is all that matters. We have three games in six days. I still think La Real can finish in mid-table. I always say what I think and I think we’re better than our current position.
“We always want to have good players at the club, and [Illarramendi] is one of them. We want more competition in order to compete higher up the table.”
