Victor Munoz: Liverpool's First Signing Under Iraola
Victor Munoz has not yet kicked a ball for Liverpool, nor for Spain at this World Cup, but his name is already threaded through two of the summer’s biggest stories: Anfield’s new era under Andoni Iraola and a transfer tug of war that left Newcastle United empty‑handed.
Liverpool moved fast. Once Iraola walked through the door, the club triggered the £34.5m release clause in Munoz’s Osasuna contract and closed a deal that had been drifting towards Tyneside. Newcastle had pushed hardest and were closest to an agreement, with Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester United and former club Real Madrid all circling. Then Liverpool called, and the landscape changed.
Munoz became the first signing of the Iraola era, a statement as much as a signing. This was not a committee project. It was the head coach’s player.
“I’ve been focused on the World Cup, so I didn’t want to hear much about my future unless it was something clear,” Munoz told EFE back in Spain. “Liverpool is an opportunity you can’t miss.”
The clarity arrived with Iraola. The Basque coach did not just sell a badge or a salary; he sold a role.
“It all took place very quickly. Iraola transmitted his confidence to me, how his team plays. He had an important role when it came to choosing,” Munoz said.
That detail matters. Liverpool have been tracking the 22‑year‑old for some time, but it took Iraola’s appointment to turn admiration into action. The new head coach outlined how Munoz would fit into his aggressive, front-foot system, and the player listened. Newcastle’s project, compelling as it looked, could not match that personal conviction.
Osasuna, though, will not be an afterthought in his story. Munoz only joined them last year, yet in Pamplona he found a platform and an emotional home.
“Osasuna, it’s an incredible place. I will always keep it in my heart. They have made me live the best football year of my entire career,” he said, a nod to the club that transformed him from a Real Madrid hopeful with two senior appearances into a full Spain international and a £34.5m Premier League signing.
Right now, though, the new Liverpool man is stuck in a place every footballer dreads: close enough to touch the dream, unable to step onto the grass.
A muscle injury has ruled him out of Spain’s opening two World Cup matches – a jarring draw with Cape Verde and a commanding win over Saudi Arabia. While his teammates chase points and momentum, Munoz is locked in the slow grind of rehab, watching the tournament unfold from the sidelines.
“We were carrying it (the injury), but I noticed a discomfort and we are trying to resume the process to be on the field as soon as possible,” he explained.
The timing could hardly be crueller. A first World Cup. A blockbuster move to Liverpool. And then a muscle strain that refuses to cooperate.
“They have been very complicated moments because this is the dream of a child and seeing that it can be twisted by an injury annoys you a lot.”
So he has leaned on help. Not just physios and doctors, but the mind as well as the body. Munoz has been working closely with Javier Lopez Vallejo, the psychologist embedded with the Spain national team setup, to keep perspective while the tournament races on without him.
“Both abroad and here with Javi I have my talks. It helps me a lot, it helps me to see another perspective of everything that happens here. It’s a pleasure to have him,” Munoz said.
There is also the daily support of the dressing room, the small gestures that keep a sidelined player tethered to the group.
“My team-mates have been a fundamental pillar for me to be eager every day. [The World Cup] is the only thing I think about. It’s a dream and I want to be on the pitch as soon as possible.”
Liverpool will be listening to every medical update from La Roja’s camp. They have invested heavily in a player whose game is built on intensity and movement; they will want him fully right, not rushed back for a group match in June and lost for a run of fixtures in October.
For now, Munoz waits. Spain chase their World Cup ambitions without him, while Iraola prepares a new Liverpool blueprint with his first signing still on the treatment table. When the muscle heals and the noise of the World Cup fades, one question will hang over Anfield:
How quickly can Victor Munoz turn all this faith into something tangible on the pitch?
