Xabi Alonso wants Martin Zubimendi at Real Madrid, but both Arsenal and Real Sociedad believe he’s ending up in north London this summer, according to a report.
Javier Rodriguez Pascual reports for Relevo that Xabi Alonso wants Real Madrid to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad this summer. The club’s hierarchy also like the player, and his price tag is fixed by his €60m (£50.9m) release clause.
Yet there are some around the Madrid club that claim the central midfield position is already sorted, and they aren’t considering such a big investment in that area this summer.
On top of that, the report adds that both Arsenal and Real Sociedad maintain that the player’s next destination will be north London.
Real Sociedad are reportedly slightly less certain than Arsenal, leaving some room for doubt that Real Madrid could hijack the deal. But according to most sources outside of Madrid, the assumption is that Arsenal are the favourites.
We recently got a hint that Zubimendi could well be on the move this summer, with Real Sociedad leaving him out of their promotional material for an upcoming pre-season tour of Japan.
And other Spanish sources like Marca have suggested that Zubimendi has never been close to joining Real Madrid, with his move to Arsenal “taken for granted everywhere”.
Yet until the deal is done, it’s still open for another club to swoop.