Martin Zubimendi appears set to join Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in the upcoming summer window.
The Spanish international, formerly linked with Arne Slot’s Liverpool, initially pushed aside the possibility of a switch to the Premier League last year.
The Merseysiders had been intent on securing his services, with the club keen to address what, at the time, had been viewed as a problem position in the No.6 role.
Time, instead, has been a blessing for the Reds, with a reliance on Ryan Gravenberch’s minutes this season proving to highlight the Dutchman’s aptitude for the position.
Martin Zubimendi won’t u-turn on Arsenal transfer
Fresh reports have suggested that Zubimendi has caught the eye of Spanish giants Real Madrid who are already laying the groundwork to hijack Arsenal’s deal.
However, reliable journalist David Ornstein has refuted such claims, noting that the Gunners are still ‘expecting’ the deal to get over the line at the end of the season.
“Without wanting to discredit the reporting of others, Blair, I personally haven’t heard this,” the reporter responded in The Athletic’s Q&A session.
“Arsenal are expecting Zubimendi to join in the summer. I don’t know if that means it is completely done but for some time now they have been working on the basis that he will be coming in and a huge amount of work went into getting them to that point – while Edu was still in position as sporting director and subsequently when Jason Ayto took over on an interim basis.
“Andrea Berta will be starting soon as Edu’s permanent successor, so we will hopefully learn as bit more on that and other areas in due course.”
Liverpool fans could be forgiven for perhaps having hoped that any transfer manoeuvers coming from the Bernabeu might inspire a second attempt from Richard Hughes over at the AXA centre.
Unfortunately, barring any late change of heart from the Euros winner, it very much seems this is Arsenal’s transfer to lose.
What are Liverpool’s alternatives?
Let’s put Zubimendi to one side and focus on our realistic avenues of action this summer.
First off, let’s appreciate that signing a new holding midfielder is not going to be high up on the priority list – it’ll come after a new forward, defender, and, quite possibly, a new fullback.
Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller might represent an intriguing option and Liverpool are known to be interested in the footballer whose £30.2m release clause kicks in come 2026.
It might not even come in the form of a new signing given that we already possess a supremely talented, if raw, option within the ranks in Stefan Bajcetic (currently on loan with Las Palmas).
An average ranking of 6.74/10 in La Liga (via Sofascore) this term indicates the midfielder is far from being the finished article – though we’d hardly expect him to be at 20 years of age!
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