Arsenal is proceeding to an agreement to indicate midfielder Martin Zubimenddi of Real Sociedad next summer.
The move for the 25-year-old has been worked on for a considerable time and if an agreement is reached will come a year after Liverpool failed in their own bid to sign the Spain international.
Mikel Arteta is the main engine of a prosecution that has been vigorized in the negotiation procedure with its opposite league numbers for the signing of Mikel Merino in August.
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Merino, a foreign teammate in Zubimenddi, concluded an agreement 33. Five million euros (28. 4 million pounds sterling) in five million euros in variables.
Liverpool were interested in signing Zubimendi last summer, with Real Sociedad anticipating he would join the Merseyside club.
The idea of Liverpool that the player was first open to the movement, but Zubimendi even though everything made the decision not to move to Anfield.
Arsenal’s interest comes with central midfielders Thomas Partey and Jorginho both having contracts which expire at the end of the season.
Zubimendi, a product of the Real Sociedad Academy, has made 210 appearances for its years of training since its inception in 2019.
This season has made 22 appearances in all competitions, scoring a goal.
He has 15 caps for Spain, 4 in the European Championship winning crusade last summer.
By James McNicholas
Zubimfinishdi was a long -term goal for Arsenal. With Thomas Party and Jorginho out of contract at the end of the season, they have known for some time that they rejuvenate their midfielder.
Landing Zubimendi would be a significant coup for Arsenal — especially as he was so coveted by their title rivals Liverpool in the summer of 2024. His arrival would see him link up with former Sociedad team-mates Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard.
The firm can have attractive ramifications for Declan Rice. Signed to play as a number six, he played a giant component of his football for Arsenal as a cash number at eight. The arrival of Zubimenddi can consolidate its position on a more complex role.
The player’s release clause of 60 million euros (51. 7 million pounds sterling; $ 63. 4 million) provides a fair value, however, as it will be mandatory that it be paid in advance, it will take a component of the Arsenal summer budget.
Thom Harris analysis
A player born and raised in a city captivated through the football of Xabi Alonso, trained through the guy, the game where he played: Zubimenddi may not be greater that is placed in the next great sport pivot.
For all the romanticism of his footballing upbringing — his destiny at the peak of the game — Zubimendi remains as grounded and as pragmatic as they come.
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With more touches, passes and gates than any teammate, he encouraged his club of formative years in Champions League qualification in 2022-23 (they reached the attack of the last 16 mandates) by anchoring a Sociedad midfielder at the technical point with an intuitive defensive defensive positioning and a giant who passes from the depths.
Generally, Real Sociedad like to start play from the back and they are not averse to playing short, risky passes around their own penalty area to lure the opposition in. Zubimendi is often the receiver, picking up the ball under pressure and facing his own goal.
It is a role that requires not only an immaculate technique, but also a quick and without ribs resolution, making sure that the correct pass, the correct angle and the elevation, are played to allow their teammates to progress the ball He also wants confidence, although not too much, to try to overcome the tension itself.
In a nutshell, Zubimendi is the gear between defense and midfield: seque Guy Real Sociedad wishes to win those mini-Battles and move through the area that has been created through its brave accumulation of the press.
By James Pearce
Zubimendi’s potential move to Arsenal will be a source of frustration for some Liverpool fans.
The Spain international was the club’s top transfer target last summer and they were ready and waiting to pay his €60m buyout clause in August after being given the impression that the holding midfielder wanted to leave Real Sociedad, his boyhood club, and make the move to Merseyside.
However, Zubimendi returned and stayed on the spot, Liverpool believing that the player had gone to great lengths to replace his brain (a theory challenged through Zubimendi and Sociedad).
Liverpool did not continue a Plan B because they do not take into account that there is no suitable option with a similar profile in the market.
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It was a bold call in the circumstances given the clamour for transfers, but it was fuelled by Arne Slot’s belief that the best option at that stage was to play Ryan Gravenberch in a deeper role.
The resolution proved to be encouraged through the Netherlands a leading role in the challenge of Liverpool.
Liverpool did not keep Afrones on how the movement fell last summer and its admiration for Zubimenddi as a footballer. However, the strengthening of this branch is not the precedence of which has been in the past as the influence of Tevenboch in the locking appearance.
GO DEEPER
Martin Zubimendi is the Gen-Z Sergio Busquets at the heart of Real Sociedad’s midfield
(Top photo: Angel Martinez – Uefa/Uefa Getty Images)