Arsenal were eyeing the Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi over the January window and he could be a name to keep an eye on for the summer.
What’s the latest?
Mikel Arteta welcomed the Premier League veteran Jorginho to north London on Tuesday as the Italian made the move from their London rivals Chelsea.
It was clear a new midfielder was on the radar for the Gunners over the January window with the league leaders testing a few options throughout the month.
One of those being Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion but the Gunners saw big-money money rejected for the Ecuadorian midfielder.
And it seems another name who Arsenal were monitoring was Zubimendi with Fabrizio Romano saying on his YouTube channel that this could be a player to watch ahead of the summer:
“One of the players they were considering is Martin Zubimendi. Playing for Real Sociedad, a very good midfielder. Already in the list of Barcelona. He’s a player that Barca are following for the summer.
“Arsenal were considering a move for Zubimendi. He has a release clause, but on the player’s side, he was happy to stay at Real Sociedad, at least until the end of the season.
“And so Arsenal decided not even to proceed in talks with Real Sociedad because they saw the player wanted to complete the season in Spain. So he was not rejecting Arsenal or any other club. He just wanted to stay at Real Sociedad. So we will see if Zubimendi will be one of the names to keep an eye on in the summer transfer window.”
One for the summer?
There is the belief the Gunners were hit with a hefty price tag for the Spanish midfielder last month with Real Sociedad reportedly informing the north London side it would take €60m (52.8m).
This comes as the La Liga side felt the only way they would part ways with their influential midfielder was if the Gunners paid his release clause.
And we do wonder whether the widely-reported interest in Brighton’s Caicedo may have had an influence on Sociedad’s stance surrounding the player.
Arsenal made two big bids for the Premier League midfielder and having failed to land him, the only result of the attempts was informing other clubs of how much money they had available to spend.
For Sociedad, the 24-year-old has played a big role in their promising campaign so far with 18 appearances in the league and 17 of those coming from the starting XI (via Transfermarkt).
Given they currently sit just three points off second-placed Real Madrid and eight points adrift of Villarreal in fifth spot, Imanol Alguacil will have been keen to keep his squad together.
Ahead of the summer, there are already the likes of Declan Rice being touted as a potential target so we do wonder whether Zubimendi could be an option they possibly fall back on.