“Mbappé or Neymar out? PSG buys stars, does not sell them”

Ander Herrera (14-8-2989, Bilbao) signed last summer as a PSG footballer for five seasons. Before he shone in Zaragoza, Athletic and Manchester United, in addition to being international with the Selection. In his career he has coincided with very glamorous stars in soccer. He has spoken about them in an interview with AS, in which he relates interesting episodes and his plans for the present and future.

The Bundesliga has resumed and in Spain, Italy and England there are already dates for the return to competition. Have they been wrong in France by canceling Ligue 1?

We were very surprised. I remember that in the team chat many of us were in shock, in fact some did not believe it. I think it was a hasty decision because time is giving the Bundesliga reason and hopefully the same will happen with the Spanish league and the rest. We have been league champions, yes, but winning like this is decaffeinated. We also do not know if the two French Cups (the Cup and the League Cup) will be played in August, the Champions does not yet have a return date … There are many unknowns yet.

It seems evident that the cancellation of Ligue 1 will affect the performance of both PSG and Lyon if the Champions League resumes …

Hopefully not, but I think it will, because the rest will be competing and we will not. In the end, the competition is what gives you the rhythm and where you compete most regularly is in the domestic league. I don't know what they are going to do, but some solution will have to be found.

Since the Qatari capital entered PSG, the club's main objective is to win the Champions League, given the large disbursements in players that the club has made in recent years. Will it be this season in which the team already expects a rival in the quarters?

It is true that from outside PSG will be scored for what they do in the Champions League, despite the fact that the team is doing well in the league and in the French cups. We have a team and players to fight it, but I am very prudent and superstitious and I don't want to mention it. Match by match.

He signed until 2024 with PSG last summer. How do you rate these months on the team?

It is certainly an impressive experience, although it is true that two quadriceps injuries, of a month and a half each, have prevented me from having the continuity that I would have liked. But playing alongside some of the best soccer players in the world is a luxury. After five years in Manchester, with a very positive overall balance, I decided not to renew due to differences with the club, I got the offer from PSG, one of the best projects in European football, and I am very satisfied with the decision I made.

A curiosity: why Tuchel has lined him up in some games as a midfielder?

Because of the positional and possession game that he wants us to develop, in addition to the fact that in some of those games both Meunier and Dagba could not play. He considers the wingers as midfielders when it comes to construction, he saw last year for example with Dani Alves, and I also have no problem adapting to other positions, I am open to what is asked of me and what the team requires .

The PSG has made the purchase of Icardi official. What opinion do you deserve?

This is great news for the club, which is securing a top-3 striker for the next six or seven years, as it is still very young. He has scored goals, he adapted very quickly and inside the area he is a beast and outside of it, very practical and intelligent, because he knows what his virtues and limitations are.

That news from Icardi seems like the finishing touch to the departure of Cavani's PSG, who is on contract now. Do you still see it feasible for the Uruguayan to reach Atlético, as it seems that he was close in January?

I know that Cavani wants to play in Spain, because it is a league and a country that he loves. In fact, he was wondering a lot, but since we left Paris I haven't had the opportunity to talk to him and I don't know his situation.

The situation derived from the coronavirus pandemic will also change football from an economic point of view. In the event that PSG had to sell, would it be more difficult to retain Mbappé or Neymar?

I do not know, because I do not know what they earn or the income they generate for the club, which is still a company, but I do know that both are key in the project and I see them very happy and involved with PSG.

How much is all the information that Madrid wants to sign Mbappé and Neymar could return to Barça commented in the PSG locker room?

It is true that a lot of information appears in the media and on networks about both, but we do not give him much 'ball'. You have to take into account a fundamental aspect, and I have discussed it with Kylian, that PSG is not a club that sells its stars, on the contrary, it buys them. He has enough economic muscle to support both of them.

Do you see Mbappé at Madrid and Neymar at Barça?

What I see normal is that they are talked about, as in their time of Verratti or Marquinhos. They are the best in the world and I have four more years of contract and I want to enjoy them next to them at PSG.

He spent five seasons at Manchester United of which he was under the command of Mourinho two and a half. Is he as fierce in dealing with players as his fame precedes him?

I only have words of thanks to him. The first of the seasons was fantastic, with three titles and I was chosen by the fans as the best player of the season. He has character, yes, but if you go head-to-head with him, you work, you don't hide and you don't 'haggle', you have no problem. I understand him because I think the same, you have to be tough and mature. He is fierce with the one who is not honest.

In addition to Mourinho, he has lived with Bielsa, Van Gaal, Ibrahimovic, Neymar … people with a unique personality. Who is the most peculiar you have come across in a locker room?

Ibrahimovic and Bielsa. Marcelo, for his extreme love of soccer. He is a coach who is unlike any other I have had in his method. And Zlatan is a character; The statements that we often see him make before the media, he also says in the locker room. Many times you laugh at him and sometimes you want to kill him, but you have to love him, because he always shows his face.

He knows Pogba well. Should Madrid sign him?

Paul is a footballer who has everything: overflow, he recovers many balls, he does well in the air game, he is aggressive, he defends, he attacks, he has a goal …, but in Manchester he had ups and downs: he played matches in which he made the difference in a brutal way and others not, and a player of that price is required to always be very good. If he is able to have regularity in his game, it is normal for Madrid or any other big club in Europe to want to sign him. It also happens as with Mbappé and Neymar, he is in one of the most powerful clubs in the world and it will be difficult for him to leave.

What did Van Gaal's United lack to be more successful?

I don't know, maybe time. It is true that Mourinho's Chelsea was impeccable, but the first year we had a brutal squad, with Di María, Falcao, Van Persie, Rooney, Antonio Valencia …

In which wardrobe have you had the best time?

In the one of Athletic. It was like playing with a gang of friends, but in the elite. I am from Zaragoza, but I admire Athletic for that feeling of belonging, for that respect from young people to the most veteran, for the affection you feel for the street… It is a very special club.

And what league are you staying with: Spanish, English or French?

The Spanish, because it throws me. All have their virtues: the English maintains a constant rhythm, because the referee stops the game; the Frenchwoman is sometimes crazy, very physical and very fast, due to the influence of having many African players; and the Spanish has that technical level that the soccer player of our country has. But I differ when it comes to the difference in level, for example, the Premier or LaLiga with Ligue 1.

You have played two finals with Athletic (one from the Europa League and the other from the Copa del Rey). How do you see the Cup final against Real?

Athletic deserves that Cup, despite the fact that Real has played football very well. In addition, the emotional factor of Aduriz's farewell is brought together; for his career and professionalism he deserves to climb the barge. What I do hope is that it is with the public, that is why the clubs do well to wait, because a final between Athletic and Real without people in the stands would be very ugly.

Do you keep the dream of playing the Euro Cup with the Spanish team in your city, in Bilbao, next summer?

Yes, but I will have to earn it on the field. Of course, if the European Championship had been held this year, it would not have gone because I have not had the necessary continuity in PSG.

What advice would you give the Olympic Team at the Tokyo Games not to fall into London's mistakes?

We had a great team, we had just won the U21 Euro Cup, and we didn't measure up. We underestimate rivals a bit, and I include myself. I would tell them to come out on top in all games, no matter who the rival is.

When you finish at PSG will you return to Zaragoza?

I am from Zaragoza, I have always said it, and my hope is to return home. I am taking care to do it in the best possible way, but now I think about fulfilling my contract with one of the best teams in the world and playing alongside some of the top soccer players on the planet.

Coach or commentator when you retire?

Coach surely not, because it is very difficult to manage groups, egos and personalities. I don't rule out the media. I like the way Álvaro Benito does it, for example, whenever I can listen to him and read to him. He talks about soccer and soccer players always with respect.

Another of your plans would be to enter the shareholding of Zaragoza, like a year ago?

It is true that I met with some owners of the club to help to the best of my ability at a delicate moment, it did not bear fruit, but I do have that illusion.