Meet the mastermind behind Liverpool's sensational €40m Victor Munoz deal | OneFootball

Liverpool have already tied up their first signing of the Andoni Iraola era.

Last week a deal was struck to sign Osasuna winger Victor Munoz - with the outgoing Premier League champions triggering the Spain international’s €40m release clause.

Interest was growing in Munoz - who joined Osasuna in 2025 from Real Madrid where he spent time coming through their La Fabrica youth academy.

Newcastle United believed they were close to a deal for the FIFA World Cup participant - before Liverpool swooped into action.

Liverpool swoop for Victor Munoz

Across a breakneck couple of days a deal was agreed between the clubs with Liverpool staff putting Munoz through his medical at Spain’s World Cup training facilities.

But this was no hijack and no impulse purchase. Because a report on DAZN in Spain reveals the groundwork that Liverpool have put in on the Munoz deal with one man in particular said to be the architect.

Kiko Espinar, 43, joined Liverpool back in December 2015 after leaving his post as analyst at Espanyol and is the regional scouting manager for Spain and Portugal.

The Spaniard masterminded deals for Luis Diaz, Stefan Bajcetic and Giorgi Mamaradashvili among others and his fingerprints are all over the Munoz deal.

Kiko Espinar the architect of Munoz deal

“His discreet, constant and deeply analytical work has become one of the main channels of connection between LALIGA and Anfield,” a report reads on DAZN.

“If there's one name that perfectly illustrates this trend, it's Víctor Muñoz, Osasuna's most expensive sale ever.”

Espinar is said to have had Munoz on his radar ever since his days as a youth team player back in CF Damm - quickly identifying the tireless wide man as a player capable of fitting in with Liverpool’s demands.

“As his progress has been tracked since his formative stages at CF Damm, his name has climbed the ranks in the English club's internal reports,” the report reads.

“The transfer of Muñoz is not a matter of chance. It is the result of a long-term strategy, in which Kiko Espinar has played a key role.

“From his first steps in the youth category, the attacker has been monitored as a profile with characteristics very much in line with Liverpool's football: verticality, aggression without the ball and ability to generate imbalance in the last third.

“His knowledge of Spanish grassroots football and his ability to identify talent before it reaches the media spotlight make his work a strategic asset for Liverpool.”

Victor Munoz is the perfect LFC signing

Big changes are coming to Liverpool this summer under Andoni Iraola as the new head coach and sporting director Richard Hughes set about reconstructing the squad.

Alterations are due out wide - where Mohamed Salah and Federico Chiesa will depart. And the signing of Munoz fits in perfectly with what both Iraola and Liverpool as a whole are looking for.

The Basque tactico is reported to have accelerated efforts to get the signing of Munoz over the line in the end ahead of Newcastle but make no mistake about who put the groundwork in on this record-breaking deal.

Kike Espinar: Situation summary

Kike Espinar joined Liverpool in December 2015 as Regional Scouting Manager and has since become a central figure in shaping the club’s recruitment strategy across Spain and Portugal.

Operating across first team, emerging talent and academy levels, he leads the strategic coverage of the Iberian market, aligning scouting priorities with Liverpool’s broader squad-planning framework.

His remit goes beyond simple player identification, encompassing direct involvement in profile definition and recruitment validation to ensure targets fit the club’s tactical identity and financial parameters.

Espinar structures and coordinates regional scouting operations, setting evaluation standards and reporting methodologies that feed into Liverpool’s decision-making processes, while also delivering market intelligence, valuation insight and contractual context to support executive sporting calls.

In practice, that means overseeing long-term talent development in the region and maintaining internal consistency between academy pathways and first-team needs, all while representing Liverpool institutionally and in the market as the club’s key scouting figurehead in the Iberian Peninsula.