Arsenal are seemingly on the verge of announcing deals for Martin Zubimendi and Kepa Arrizabalaga, with both set to be in pre-season training next week.
Charles Watts reports on his YouTube channel that Arsenal announcements for the signings of Martin Zubimendi and Kepa Arrizabalaga are expected “certainly by the end of the week”, and perhaps much sooner.
Watts adds that pre-season training is set to start next week, and both Zubimendi and Kepa will be there for that.
Ideally, the Gunners would have made both deals official by then, so that the club are free to share content involving the two players taking part in their first training sessions with their new teammates.
Zubimendi travelled to London over the weekend to conclude his transfer, with Arsenal paying slightly more than his €60m release clause to allow them to pay in instalments.
Paying the clause would have meant offering €60m in one go, but the Gunners will instead pay around €66m (£56.5m) over multiple years.
Reports have suggested that Arsenal and Real Sociedad wanted to delay the official announcement until July for financial reasons, allowing both clubs to include it in their 2025/26 accounts. Now that it’s July, there’s no reason to delay any longer.
As for Kepa, that deal is more recent, with Arsenal only completing the formalities in the last week or so. So it’s no real surprise it’s taken a few more days to get all the paperwork sent off and the announcement videos ready.
The goalkeeper will join from Chelsea for his £5m release clause, and he’ll compete with David Raya for starts in 2025/26.