As they often do, Liverpool waited until Newcastle United arranged a medical before swooping in to buy their target. This time, the Reds ruthlessly hijacked a deal for winger Victor Munoz (£6.5m).
Instead of haggling over a transfer fee, Liverpool simply paid the €40m (£34.5m) release clause of someone about to turn 23 years old.
So, can the Spaniard force his way into Andoni Iraola’s first-choice XI, and what impact will he have in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)?
We’ll attempt to answer those questions below.
THE HISTORY
Born in Barcelona, Munoz joined the Catalan club’s famous La Masia aged 11 but left for the local CF Damm youth academy when 14.
In 2021, he rocked up at Real Madrid’s academy, playing for their C team during 2022/23.
| SEASON | TEAM | DIVISION | STARTS (SUBS) | GOALS | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Osasuna | La Liga | 31 (3) | 6 | 2 |
| 2024/25 | Real Madrid | La Liga | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 |
| 2024/25 | Real Madrid Castilla | Primera Federacion Group II | 31 (3) | 11 | 7 |
After excelling in the third tier for Castilla (their B team), Munoz made a few late senior 2024/25 appearances. In fact, his debut took place at Barcelona in a 4-3 El Clásico defeat, where he found time to miss a big one-on-one chance to equalise.
A couple of cameos took place under Xabi Alonso at the Club World Cup, before Munoz permanently joined Osasuna. While a low fee was agreed, it granted Real Madrid 50% of his next sale.
In a new environment that brought weekly first-team football, Munoz shone. Six goals and two assists won’t blow your socks off, but Osasuna only narrowly avoided relegation. He won consecutive U23 Player of the Month awards in February and March.
Once Real opted to pocket the 50% rather than buy him back for €8m, Liverpool got their man.
Supporters might even get a glimpse of him at the World Cup, as he is part of Spain’s squad, having made his international debut in March, scoring past Serbia just nine minutes after coming on.
PLAYING STYLE
Munoz is a dynamic and direct dribbler who loves one-on-one situations.
This versatile right-footer is gifted with explosive pace and, at 5’8″, has a low centre of gravity. It explains why he’s one of Europe’s best for take-ons per 100 touches, ranking fourth for completed La Liga dribbles (75).
According to Opta, accomplishing 12 of these versus Rayo Vallecano were the most of any 2025/26 player amongst the ‘big five’ European leagues. He also had the highest average ball-carrying progress (10.5 metres).
However, Munoz is still learning. His decision-making needs improving a bit, as he’s maybe too optimistic when lining up shots.
For example, he had the 10th most attempts (81), but they averaged just 0.07 expected goals. No wonder his conversion rate was a low 7.41%.
To paint a picture in your mind, a graphic from The Athletic says he plays similarly to Dango Ouattara (£6.5m) and Anthony Gordon.
WHERE MUNOZ FITS IN AT LIVERPOOL
Iraola has only just taken the Liverpool hotseat, but we know from his stint at Bournemouth that he wants to bring a front-footed, frantic, ‘heavy metal’ playing style back to Anfield.
The head coach believes his first signing’s progressive carries are a good fit for this. Munoz likes to quickly play the ball forward, and he has the ability to break down low defensive blocks.
Above image from Transfermarkt
A further help is his attacking versatility, as seen above. He’s competing with Cody Gakpo (£7.0m) and Rio Ngumoha (£6.0m) on the left flank, plus possibly Florian Wirtz (£7.5m) and Alexander Isak (£9.0m) in certain situations. A big-money Mohamed Salah replacement is on the priority list, too.
Yet Hugo Ekitike (£7.5m) will miss the first few months of 2026/27 due to a big Achilles injury. Once Isak inevitably hurts his groin again, either Munoz or Gakpo can fill in up front.
IS MUNOZ WORTH BUYING IN FPL?
Our Fixture Ticker shows a strong Liverpool run between Gameweeks 1 and 4, until the schedule toughens.
He’s also come in at a cheaper-than-expected FPL starting price of £6.5m.
But as a new signing in a new league, joining one of the elite teams, we don’t know if he’ll be eased into action. Spain’s World Cup progress is another factor, and he only just made his pre-season bow on August 9.
Given the so-so attacking returns to date, as well as rotation risk, he’s surely a wait-and-see asset for now.
Florian Wirtz (£7.5m), playing in an eye-catchingly advanced role in pre-season, and set-piece-taking Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) remain the go-to, more established Liverpool names to consider at present.
