Ander Iturraspe could reunite with his former La Liga manager Marcelo Bielsa at Championship hopefuls Leeds United this summer.
Leeds United will be monitoring developments at the San Mames closely between now and the end of the season.
AS broke the news earlier in March that Leeds want to re-unite Marcelo Bielsa with a midfielder he coached during a terrific spell in Spain with Athletic Bilbao.
Iturraspe was a key player during two years under Bielsa between 2011 and 2013, making 65 La Liga appearances while helping the Basque giants reach the Copa del Rey and Europa League finals.
Now aged 30, the two-time Spain international will see his contract expire in July with his career-long association with Athletic set to come to an end.
And El Gol Digital on Thursday have suggested that Gaizka Garitano’s side might have already found a replacement for a midfielder who had previously been compared to Xabi Alonso due to his impressive passing range and ability to control the tempo from a deep-lying role.
Athletic’s policy means they can only employ players from the Basque region so Mikel Vesga fits the bill. The 25-year-old has spent the 2018/19 season on loan at Leganes from the San Mames and played for Sporting Gijon in the previous campaign.
But El Gol Digital believes that Vesga’s fine form at Leganes means he will be promoted to Athletic’s first team for 2019/20. He looks like an obvious candidate to step into the role vacated by Iturraspe.
So this may well be good news for Leeds. It seems that Athletic have no plans as it stands to keep Iturraspe around.
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