The post-Mohamed Salah era at Liverpool was always going to be the hardest thing Anfield has faced in a generation. You don’t replace an icon — you reimagine the attack. And that’s exactly what Liverpool have done. Victor Munoz, the 22-year-old Spanish winger who has been turning heads across Europe, will join the Reds for €40 million after Liverpool triggered his release clause at Osasuna. The deal was confirmed last month, and Munoz arrives on Merseyside with the most impossible job in football: filling the Salah-shaped hole on Liverpool’s right wing.
Nobody is calling Munoz the next Salah. That would be unfair to both players. But the profile is exactly what new manager Andoni Iraola — himself a Spaniard who knows La Liga talent intimately — prioritized in his first transfer window: young, direct, relentless, and ready to run through walls for the shirt. Munoz checks every box.
Who Is Victor Munoz?
If Munoz’s footballing CV had a headline, it would read: “Educated at La Masia. Refined at Real Madrid. Forged at Osasuna.” Born in Catalunya, Munoz spent his early teens at Barcelona’s academy before making the controversial switch to Real Madrid’s youth setup at 16. He climbed the ranks at the Bernabéu, eventually making his first-team debut late in the 2024-25 season — a brief cameo against his former club, Barcelona, of all teams.
But first-team minutes were scarce in a Madrid squad stacked with attacking talent. So in the summer of 2025, Munoz made the most important decision of his young career: he left the biggest club in the world for regular football at Osasuna, signing a five-year deal for a modest €5 million. Real Madrid retained a buy-back clause, but at the time, the move was seen as a gamble. It paid off spectacularly.
The Osasuna Breakout
Osasuna spent the 2025-26 season fighting relegation in La Liga — a battle they won by the narrowest of margins, surviving on a head-to-head tiebreaker in a three-way points tie with Mallorca and Levante. Munoz was the reason they stayed up. His eight goal contributions — goals against Levante and Espanyol, assists in crucial draws against Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano — provided the margin of survival in a campaign where every point was a war.
He won two Player of the Month awards. He played through injury in the season’s final weeks when the club desperately needed him. He earned his first senior Spain call-up in March and marked his debut off the bench against Serbia with a goal. By the time Luis de la Fuente named his 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup, Munoz had forced his way into the conversation — and onto the plane.
Spain’s national team coach didn’t mince words about the player he’d selected. “I think he’s a lad with tremendous footballing potential,” De la Fuente said. “He’s shown at the highest international level that he’s ready to compete.”
Why Liverpool Moved
The timing of this transfer is no accident. Salah left Anfield after the 2025-26 season, ending an era that produced 231 goals, five major trophies, and a permanent place in Liverpool folklore. Hugo Ekitike, signed last summer to share the attacking burden, suffered a serious injury that will keep him out for the start of the new campaign. Federico Chiesa is expected to depart before the window closes. The right wing — the position Salah owned for nearly a decade — was suddenly a gaping hole.
Newcastle United had been tracking Munoz for months and appeared to be the frontrunners, viewing the Spaniard as a replacement for Anthony Gordon, who had completed his move to Barcelona. But Liverpool moved decisively, triggering the €40 million clause and presenting Munoz with a choice. He chose Anfield.
Playing Style: The Next Gordon, the Next Jota?
The comparisons that follow Munoz are instructive. Goal.com’s scouting report draws parallels to Anthony Gordon — not just because of the Newcastle connection, but because of the playing style. Munoz is direct, confident, and carries the ball with purpose. He’s not a flashy dribbler who beats the same defender three times just because he can. He beats his man once, then makes something happen — a cross, a shot, a pass that opens up the defense.
There are shades of Diogo Jota in his game too — the late Portuguese forward whose directness and aggression made him a fan favorite at Anfield before his tragic passing. Munoz picks up the ball and drives forward with the same kind of positive intent. He’s not the finished product — his end product needs refinement, and he’ll need to adjust to the physical demands of the Premier League — but the raw materials are elite.
“Incredibly quick and with fantastic dribbling ability,” Goal.com’s Ameé Ruszkai wrote in her detailed profile of Munoz. “He is not shy in taking players on, with his direct approach the sort of thing that will excite those in the stands. He’s versatile, too, capable of playing on either side or even more centrally.”
Iraola’s Liverpool will press high, attack at speed, and demand relentless work rate from the front three. Munoz, who played through physical discomfort during Osasuna’s relegation battle because his team needed him, is exactly the kind of personality that thrives in that environment. The €40 million fee is not insignificant, but in a summer where Chelsea paid more than double that for a central midfielder, it looks like a smart bet on a player whose trajectory is pointing straight up.
“He’s very humble,” Spain boss De la Fuente said of Munoz. “A lad with tremendous footballing potential. He’s shown at the highest international level that he’s ready.” Liverpool fans will hope that readiness translates immediately — the Premier League doesn’t offer a grace period for young wingers finding their feet. The games come fast, the full-backs are unforgiving, and the Anfield crowd has spent a decade watching the greatest right-sided forward in the club’s history. Those are big shoes. But Victor Munoz didn’t come to Liverpool to fill shoes. He came to write his own story.
Munoz won’t replace Salah. Nobody can. But he can be the first piece of something new — a Liverpool attack rebuilt for the next decade, with a 22-year-old Spaniard leading the charge.
Sources: Goal.com, The Athletic (New York Times)
Last updated: July 31, 2026