Martín Zubimendi is reportedly close to joining Arsenal, and according to Marca, only two things could derail what many see as an inevitable move.
Martín Zubimendi’s transfer to Arsenal is described by Marca as “the chronicle of a transfer foretold.”
In a piece published this week, Spanish journalist Juan Castro reports that the move is all but done, with only two obstacles capable of derailing it at this stage: the refusal of the Kroenke family to trigger his €60 million release clause, or a last-minute intervention by Florentino Pérez to bring the Real Sociedad midfielder to Real Madrid, which even Marca note ‘may be too late’.
In London, the deal is reportedly considered as good as agreed.
Castro, citing Óscar Badallo, Marca’s correspondent in San Sebastián, writes that both Arsenal and Real Sociedad now see the transfer as a near certainty.
Zubimendi, 26, has long been on Mikel Arteta’s radar.
“If confirmed,” Marca writes, “Zubi would bring order and football to a team that already dominates many records, but perhaps lacks that player who gives pause to its game. Or rather, it has one, but he plays further forward, and that is Martin Ødegaard.”
Marca frames it plainly: “Arteta, engineer of the Gunner machine, needs a ‘computer’, in the broadest footballing sense of the word,” with Zubimendi seen as the type of deep-lying playmaker capable of dictating tempo, a quality that fits seamlessly into the demands of Arteta’s tactical setup.
Marca notes that Arsenal have been monitoring Zubimendi closely and that, unless something dramatic happens in the boardrooms of North London or Madrid, the move is essentially ready to be finalised.
“Unless someone intervenes,” Castro concludes, “Zubi will be a Gunner.”