Fabrizio Romano has revealed Arsenal wanted a move for Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi before opting for Jorginho.
The Gunners bolstered their squad in the last transfer window with several players and Jorginho also made the short move from Chelsea to the Emirates.
Arsenal had spent most of the final week of January pursuing an interest in Moises Caicedo of Brighton, but the Seagulls refused to sell the 21-year-old.
The Gunners eventually moved for Jorginho, but Romano said they also had an interest in Zubimendi.
He writes in his column on CaughtOffside:
“Martin Zubimendi is one of the players Arsenal also considered for their midfield, but Jorginho was a good option and they decided to proceed for him because Mikel Arteta is big fan and wanted Jorginho when the Moises Caicedo deal collapsed.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
A move for Zubimendi that late in the transfer window could have been difficult because he is a crucial player for Sociedad and they will not have the time to replace the Spaniard.
Jorginho is a great short-term fix and we will have the chance to get someone else at the end of the season.
Declan Rice is another player reports have linked us to and we could get the Englishman at the end of the season.
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The headline doesn’t tie up with what Romano actually said.
To be fair Zubamendi made it abundantly clear publicly he was not leaving at least until the summer and no guarantee he will then if Sociedad are in the CL which seems likely right now.
So the headline can be correct and line up with Romano’s comments in the context that it was immediately clear Zubamendi was unavailable so we moved on.
No, he said the player was considered but nowhere did he say Arsenal really wanted him before Jorginho. The headline is totally misleading, which is not unusual here.
I’ll second you
I also found this
“Of course, Arteta had a big impact on the change. I know he has tried to get me several times before, but that could not be done due to several different factors,” said Jorginho in an interview with the club’s website.
“It’s a fantastic and huge club and I’m really, really excited and happy to be here.
“I would like to guarantee to the fans that I will give everything I have to be able to perform well for the club.”
“I know he has tried to get me several times before”
On the JA opinion Sociedad don’t really have a say in Zubamendi’s future as when they extended his contract his release clause remained the same. That is the reason for the speculation because the release clause remains just the “low” 52.5 mil.
The issue is the player is an academy product with the team currently in 3rd above Atletico and 3 points off Real (real have a game in hand.) They are 8 clear of 5th. Last time they made CL was 13/14.
That is without mentioning the Basque element that some will be familiar with in regards to Bilbao (Sociedad unlike Bilbao abandoned Basque only signings in 1989 but retain a strong loyal core of Basque players of which Zubimendi is one.)