{"id":334341,"date":"2026-05-14T04:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T23:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=334341"},"modified":"2026-05-14T04:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T23:08:14","slug":"man-utd-and-chelsea-add-record-breaking-spain-international-to-summer-transfer-shortlists-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/05\/14\/man-utd-and-chelsea-add-record-breaking-spain-international-to-summer-transfer-shortlists-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd and Chelsea add record-breaking Spain international to summer transfer shortlists | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><figcaption>Ander\u00a0Barrenetxea is being \u2018closely monitored\u2019 by Manchester United and Chelsea (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Manchester United and Chelsea are weighing up moves for Real Sociedad star Ander\u00a0Barrenetxea\u00a0this summer, in accordance with reports in Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Barrenetxea has established himself as a mainstay in Sociedad\u2019s first-team having risen through the academy ranks to make his senior debut as a 16-year-old back in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>In that point, Barrenetxea, now aged 24, has made a complete of 233 appearances in all competitions while racking up 28 goals and 18 assists for his boyhood side.<\/p>\n<p>In just his second season with the first-team, the left winger played an integral role as Sociedad won the Copa del Rey \u2013 and he lifted the trophy again this term as Pellegrino Matarazzo\u2019s men defeated Atletico Madrid in an exciting final.<\/p>\n<p>It was Barrenetxea\u2019s stunning header that opened the scoring just 14 seconds into last month\u2019s showpiece, the fastest-ever goal in a Copa del Rey final, with Sociedad eventually prevailing via a nerve-jangling penalty shootout.<\/p>\n<p>Barrenetxea\u2019s outstanding displays earned him a primary Spain call-up back in March and there are calls for the attacker to be included in Luis de la Fuente\u2019s World Cup squad this summer, a scenario not many would have envisaged in the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n<p>In line with Spanish newspaper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marca.com\/futbol\/real-sociedad\/2026\/05\/13\/dos-gigantes-premier-detras-barrenetxea.html\">Marca<\/a>, Barrenetxea\u2019s form \u2018has not gone unnoticed\u2019 and his high level of performance has \u2018left its mark\u2019 on the transfer market.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2274524889.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28355523\" alt=\"Sevilla Fc V Real Sociedad - Laliga Ea Sports\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Barrenetxea is having fun with a wonderful season with Real Sociedad (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2271625240.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28355556\" alt=\"Real Sociedad v Atletico de Madrid - Copa Del Rey Final\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The forward opened the scoring after only 14 seconds in last month\u2019s Copa del Rey final (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s claimed Manchester United and Chelsea have added the diminutive forward to their shortlists of potential signings for the summer \u2013 and each have been \u2018closely monitoring\u2019 his progress throughout the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The report adds that Barrenetxea is viewed as a profile who would \u2018fit the bill\u2019 for the projects at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, with the 2 English giants desperate to bolster their squads in preparation for the brand new season.<\/p>\n<p>Alexander Isak, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi have all departed Sociedad for substantial fees in recent times and there&#8217;s a sense that Barrenetxea may very well be the following player to maneuver on to greater and higher things.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2269478925.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28355574\" alt=\"Spain v Egypt - International Friendly\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The winger made his senior Spain debut against Egypt in March (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"metro-embed__twitter\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"all\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ander Barrenetxea along with his certificate for the fastest goal scored in a Copa del Rey final \ud83d\ude4cIt took just 14 seconds for Ander to go <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealSociedad?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RealSociedad<\/a> into the lead as they went on to beat Atl\u00e9tico Madrid on penalties \ud83c\udfc6 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3v0nRBSEvg\">pic.twitter.com\/3v0nRBSEvg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Guinness World Records (@GWR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GWR\/status\/2054245468008325570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 12, 2026<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<p>The Spaniard\u2019s current contract in San Sebastian runs through to June 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, Barrenetxea was officially recognised by Guinness World Records for the lightning-fast goal he scored against Ateltico Madrid within the 2026 Copa del Rey final. <\/p>\n<p>The Spain international proudly posed for an image holding the framed certificate, together with the remaining of his Sociedad team-mates.<\/p>\n<p>Sociedad currently sit eighth in La Liga with three games remaining of their campaign, starting with a visit to Girona on Thursday night.<\/p>\n<p>Matarazzo\u2019s men follow that up with a clash at home to Valencia beforewinding up the season away at struggling Espanyol.<\/p>\n<p>The club\u2019s Copa del Rey conquer Atleti last month guaranteed Europa League qualification with seven games to spare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"><br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sportmetro\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/metrosportuk\/\">Instagram<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Manchester United considering surprise latest contract for 40-year-old veteran<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Man Utd chiefs make final suggestion on next Man Utd manager<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Casemiro makes Arsenal Premier League title claim with Real Madrid comparison<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\"><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-comments\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ander\u00a0Barrenetxea is being \u2018closely monitored\u2019 by Manchester United and Chelsea (Picture: Getty) Manchester United and Chelsea are weighing up moves for Real Sociedad star Ander\u00a0Barrenetxea\u00a0this summer, in accordance with reports in Spain. Barrenetxea has established himself as a mainstay in Sociedad\u2019s first-team having risen through the academy ranks to make his senior debut as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20686],"tags":[4840,1289,5479,42,1054,530,33273,7069,4319,3006,20687],"class_list":["post-334341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-add","tag-chelsea","tag-football","tag-international","tag-man","tag-recordbreaking","tag-shortlists","tag-spain","tag-summer","tag-transfer","tag-utd"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334341"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334344,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334341\/revisions\/334344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}