By now, you’ve probably seen the reports suggesting that Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi is more likely to join Real Madrid than Arsenal.
For Gooners, this might come as a shock—especially considering the assurances during the winter transfer window that Zubimendi was on his way to North London.
Back in January, Mail Sport claimed Arsenal had practically agreed on a £51 million deal for the Spaniard, with the transfer set to be finalised in the summer. More recently, it was reported that soon-to-be-unveiled Arsenal Sporting Director Andrea Berta was keen to bring the Real Sociedad man to the Emirates.
💥 Informa @MarcoASande
👀 El @realmadrid aprieta por Zubimendi y el contexto favorece su salida. Su agente escucha ofertas y Florentino mueve ficha
⚽️ La @RealSociedad no le garantiza la Champions y el Real Madrid le ofrece títulos y élite
📻 #PartidazoCOPE pic.twitter.com/S5GQhp820U
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) March 25, 2025
So, the news of Real Madrid emerging as favourites for Zubimendi has certainly caught many by surprise.
But let’s step back for a moment. Could this development indicate that Arsenal simply weren’t as keen on Zubimendi as we thought?
The Gunners might have shifted their focus to someone else like Bruno Guimarães instead. If that’s the case, it makes sense that Arsenal didn’t fight tooth and nail to prevent Real Madrid from hijacking the deal.
After all, with the promise of a key role (especially with Jorginho and Partey potentially departing), an attractive wage package, and the willingness to agree on terms with Sociedad for a summer move, Zubimendi seemed destined for the Emirates.
Yet, Real Madrid are now prioritising him. According to El Partidazo by COPE, Madrid are ahead of Arsenal in the race.
So, have Arsenal been beaten to this signing, or did they simply cool their interest?
As noted above, Arsenal may have realised that Zubimendi still doesn’t want to leave Spain. He turned them down in the winter of 2023 (and summer 2024) and also rejected Liverpool. Not every player wants to move abroad—and that’s perfectly fine.
The silver lining here? Arsenal won’t have to endure a drawn-out transfer saga that disrupts their summer plans.
For once, the Gunners need a flawless transfer window. Avoiding the Zubimendi saga might allow them to focus on other key targets—though there’s always the Alexander Isak saga to worry about!
With Zubimendi seemingly out of the picture, Arsenal scouts now have the opportunity to identify the ideal midfield option before the summer window.
And with Myles Lewis-Skelly emerging as a midfield talent for the future, there’s less reason to fret about Arsenal’s midfield moving forward for the moment I think.
What do you think Gooners? Another talent we’ve let slip though our fingers?
Michelle M
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Smoke and mirrors, rumours, guesses, possibly made up clickbait by the newspapers so who knows. We are regularly linked with various DMs, wingers and numerous CFs, I’m surprised links to Benzema haven’t surfaced again for the 10th year running😂.
They will, just give it some time GB 🤣
We’re probably not interested in most of the players we are supposedly linked with, just lazy journalists making up stories.
@Marty: Most appreciated.
In addition to the lazy journalists, just wondering if our scouts have since found their feet ….. just hoping they aren’t lazy as well
This is what a lot of Journalists do in my opinion. Its a scatter gun approach as I like to call it. They connect us with so many players in the hope that they will hit the target on one. Which lets be honest will happen on occasion.
When Patrick Viera was at Arsenal, at the end of every season the papers would say that he was leaving. And every season when he returned for pre-season training it became a running joke with his team mates. They would say to him, oh are you still here.
It took the papers 8 years to get it right about him leaving. And then they had the cheek to say you heard it here first. 🙄🤦♂️👍😉