Athletic Bilbao Sporting Director Rafael Alkorta Confirms Ander Herrera Interest

Athletic Bilbao's sporting director Rafael Alkorta has confirmed the Basque side are interested in re-signing Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera.

The 29-year-old left Bilbao to join the Red Devils in 2014, and Herrera is on the club's radar along with several other former Athletic stars.

As reported by Football Espana on Tuesday, Akorta told Cadena SER:

"We are interested in Javi Martinez, Ibai Gomez, Ander Herrera, Fernando Llorente ... we are interested in all of them.

"Any player who can represent Athletic [through their Basque roots] will interest us and players in that quality bracket interest us, so yes.

"We are aware none of these deals would be easy but we are interested in exploring the possibilities of what we can do.

"We have not made any moves yet but we will get to work this week and get going on these fronts."

Athletic's policy of only signing Basque players makes their available pool of targets relatively small, so it comes as little surprise they're open to bringing the likes of Herrera and Bayern Munich's Javi Martinez back to the club.

They also currently sit just one place above the relegation zone in La Liga, so January reinforcements may be required to boost the club's survival bid.

Herrera is the only United star other than David de Gea to be named the Red Devils' Player of the Year in the last five seasons:

The midfielder is in the final six months of his contract at Old Trafford, though, so unless United can tie him down on a new one, January is their last chance to recoup a fee for him.

Football writer Liam Canning is hoping they can keep him at the club:

Like many of his team-mates, Herrera has been reinvigorated since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in the dugout in December.

He offered a reminder of his qualities when the Red Devils beat Newcastle United 2-0 on January 2, per football analyst Dave O'Brien:

Herrera adds a great deal of energy and tenacity in United's midfield, so he's worth keeping if terms can be agreed.

If he has no future at Old Trafford beyond the end of the season, it's likely he'd be receptive to returning to his hometown club if they remain in La Liga.