"I think the fact that everything happened so fast hasn't given me time to fully process it," Victor Muñoz said of his move to Liverpool, after the club triggered his £34.5m release clause from Osasuna. He has already scored on his full debut against Nottingham Forest in August, and he has 1 Premier League goal in 5 appearances this season from 259 minutes.

Liverpool and the Premier League adjustment

Muñoz did not hide the basic point of what has changed for him. Speaking to Europa Press, in comments translated from Spanish, he said: "I really like following LaLiga and I notice quite a difference with the Premier League, in LaLiga it is more tactical and in England it is more physical. The intensity of the training sessions and the physical work is great and it is helping me grow."

That lines up with what he told the Liverpool Echo as well. "Where I notice the biggest difference compared to past years is the intensity of the training sessions and all that physical work. Honestly, it's very demanding over there and it's helping me grow," he said. The numbers sit neatly behind that feeling, with 5 league appearances and 259 minutes already on the board, so this is still an early adjustment rather than a long bedding-in period.

Spain, Lamine Yamal and the World Cup setback

Muñoz's Spain comments were just as revealing. He was one of 8 forwards in the 26-man squad for the current international break, but he was left out of the matchday group for Spain's opener against England. He still sees the competition as a chance to learn rather than something that blocks him.

"Competing with Lamine Yamal does not frustrate me because I try to learn a lot from him," Muñoz said. "He is a very good friend of mine who is with me day to day and we share many moments together. Being able to have that competition and seeing him train every day is a real privilege for me. And not only from him, but being able to learn from all the players in the team helps me a lot."

Spain's Nations League numbers show how competitive that environment is. Yamal has 3 goals and 1 assist in the competition, and he has an 8.8 rating across those games, while Muñoz has 1 Nations League appearance and 22 minutes. He made his competitive Spain debut off the bench in the 4-1 win over Croatia, but he also said the World Cup brought mixed feelings after injury stopped him from reaching the matches.

"The fact of going and winning it with this family is incredible, but I also had difficult moments because I did things well in the season to go to the World Cup, and then I noticed that my body could do more and I did not reach the matches," he said. The interview leaves him where he started, still happy to be in the conversation, still waiting for the international run of minutes to catch up with the club move.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →