Martin Zubimendi has visited London Colney, with the official announcement of his transfer to Arsenal being prepared and rumours circling about his new shirt number.
The BBC’s Sami Mokbel reported on Saturday that Martin Zubimendi had visited Arsenal’s training facilities at London Colney ahead of his transfer from Real Sociedad. Mokbel added that the formalities were being completed ahead of the official announcement.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed the visit to London Colney, adding that Zubimendi also spoke with Mikel Arteta. Romano wrote that the official statement is now being prepared as the “final step of the story”.
One of the formalities to sort out would have been Zubimendi’s shirt number at his new club, and there’s been an update on that front from Charles Watts.
Watts reports on his YouTube channel that he’s heard from a source that Zubimendi will take 36 at Arsenal, one of the numbers he previously wore with Real Sociedad.
Though the journalist stressed that he hasn’t been able to 100% confirm the rumour, he added that the claim was from a reliable source and he’d put his confidence in the high-nineties.
David Ornstein confirmed late last week that Zubimendi had arrived in London, and Fabrizio Romano then claimed all the paperwork was done and signed.
Arsenal are reportedly set to pay a fee of around €64-65m (£54.8-£55.7m) to sign the midfielder. Zubimendi has a release clause of €60m, but the Gunners agreed to pay extra for a more favourable payment plan.
Paying the release clause would mean offering up the entire €60m upfront, but the Gunners will now instead be able to send the money in instalments over the coming years.
There’s been some speculation that Arsenal are delaying the official announcement until July for financial reasons, allowing both themselves and Real Sociedad to include it in their 2025/26 accounts. But confirmation is clearly very close now.