Chelsea and Manchester City have joined Barcelona in the race to sign Daniel Munoz from Crystal Palace.
Munoz, 28, has been revelation since joining the Eagles from Belgian side Genk in a £6.8million transfer deal in January 2024. Shining under Oliver Glasner as a wing-back, his latest impressive display came during Palace's stunning 2-0 win away to Manchester United.
With the winter transfer window closing on Monday, clubs have shifted their focus to planning for the summer. Munoz will still have two years left on his contract come June but Chelsea and City are claimed to be plotting moves.
According to Colombian outlet Antena2, the Premier League duo have joined Barcelona in pursuing the 28-year-old. Pep Guardiola has reportedly identified Munoz as a replacement for right-back Kyle Walker, who left City to join AC Milan last month.
For Munoz, links of a move to European giants such as Chelsea, City and Barca only add to the remarkable story of his career. The 36-time Colombia international joined Envigado when he was 12, the same youth department which produced famous Colombian players such as James Rodriguez, Freddy Guarin and Jhon Cordoba.
That was before Arco Zaragoza Medellin, one of the country's most famous amateur teams, picked him up. By 20, however, Munoz hadn't been signed by any of the professional clubs he'd had trials with, forcing him to consider retirement.
Fortunately, one of his former coaches persuaded him to join a regional club and from there top-flight side Aguilas Doradas offered him a contract, finally giving him the chance to prove himself at the top level in his home country. A move to Colombian big-hitters Atletico Nacional followed and Genk snapped him up in 2020.
Glasner, despite not being the manager who signed Munoz, is a huge fan of the right-back, saying in April of last year: "Daniel has an outstanding training mentality. Every training session he's the guy who's running most, who's sprinting most.
"Although he had the games with Colombia in the international break, every game 100 minutes, [he plays] every game [with] the most intensity. It's the wish of all managers to have such players, and then he gets the reward [starting every game]. I don't give him a gift. He deserves it and he performs and [gets] up and down."
Munoz is more than happy at Palace, too, recently saying: "[This team is] competitive. [Glasner is] a man who always likes to compete - I think that is the best definition, personally, to define the coach. I'm also a very competitive player. I like to compete in all areas of my life.
"I think that for him and for me, if you ask the fans or anyone at the club, the first thing is to stay away from those [lower] positions [in the table], and always look forward – to go up one step at a time. I think that as we go up one step at a time, we will see what the future holds for us."