Athletic Club Bilbao an option for Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain

Higuain is out of contract this summer at the Italian champions and he qualifies to play for Athletic as he is the great-grandson of a Basque who emigrated to Argentina.

The 32-year-old has dual Argentine and French nationality as he was born in Brest – the team where his father played after a career at home with San Lorenzo, Boca Juniors and River Plate.

Higuain’s elder brother Federico, currently playing for MLS club Columbus Crew as a deep-lying forward, was once linked to Real Sociedad and it was at this time that the Basque-French connection came to light.

The father, Jorge, is cited as once saying: “My father always told me that he had been taught that the Basques are neither Spanish nor French, only Basques.”