{"id":1105906,"date":"2019-09-11T19:10:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T18:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1105906"},"modified":"2019-09-11T18:31:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T17:31:53","slug":"athletic-bilbao-inaki-williams-man-utd-contact","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/athletic-bilbao-inaki-williams-man-utd-contact\/","title":{"rendered":"La Liga record-breaker Inaki Williams reveals Man Utd transfer “contact”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athletic Bilbao forward\u00a0Inaki Williams has confirmed summer interest from Manchester United was more than just speculation as the club held discussions with him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old was associated with a potential transfer to Old Trafford but ultimately signed a bumper nine-year contract with the Basque giants last month, immediately quashing any possibility of a departure.<\/p>\n

Why did Williams reject Man Utd? Five things to know…<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Williams has long been tipped with a transfer away from\u00a0Athletic Bilbao since emerging in 2014\/15.<\/li>\n
  • Man Utd were heavily linked this summer, with Solskjaer supposedly eager to add Williams to his frontline.<\/li>\n
  • The Red Devils parted with Romelu Lukaku and\u00a0Alexis Sanchez but only signed one attacker: Daniel James.<\/li>\n
  • Williams currently holds the record for most consecutive outfield La Liga appearances this century (122).<\/li>\n
  • The Spaniard has now revealed the reason he rejected Man Utd is because of his love for Athletic Bilbao.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7360490-squawka-talker-special-champions-league-2019-20-preview<\/p>\n

    It was believed that\u00a0Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had identified the Spain international as the ideal successor to\u00a0Romelu Lukaku \u2013 who joined Inter Milan over the summer \u2013 which has since been proven accurate as Williams has confirmed interest from\u00a0the Red Devils.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI had contact from Manchester United but I cannot tell you who it was,\u201d Williams told Cadena Ser<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \u201cMy number one option has always been to stay at Athletic Club and to retire here. Joining Real Sociedad? No, I could never go there. 100 per cent.”<\/p>\n