Florentino Perez and Mikel Arteta (Photo by David Ramos, Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Real Madrid are reportedly not actively working on a deal to sign Martin Zubimendi, and seem to believe he’ll end up at Arsenal.
The Real Sociedad midfielder has shone in La Liga and will surely be snapped up by a bigger club before too long.
Arsenal have long been linked strongly with Zubimendi, though there have also been murmurings about Real Madrid hijacking the deal.
It seems Gooners can breathe easy, however, as a report from the Athletic today states that Los Blancos see Zubimendi moving to the Emirates Stadium.
The Spain international could surely also have been a good fit for Madrid, but perhaps there’s less of an obvious need for him at the Bernabeu.
Martin Zubimendi could become a key man in Arsenal’s midfield
Zubimendi would have big names like Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham to compete with in Real’s midfield next season.
At Arsenal, however, the 26-year-old would surely be a regular starter, with Mikel Arteta set to lose two key players at the end of this campaign.
Both Jorginho and Thomas Partey are about to be out of contract at the Emirates Stadium, so that means there’s a great need to bring in Zubimendi or someone similar in their place.
Zubimendi looks like he’d be a good fit for Arsenal’s style of play, and he’d offer something a bit different to what they currently get from Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino in that area of the pitch.
The Athletic’s report also discusses Real Madrid’s interest in Arsenal’s William Saliba, though for now all eyes will be on the pitch this evening as these two big names meet at the Bernabeu for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
