According to Give Me Sport, Arsenal are not losing confidence in their pursuit of Martin Zubimendi and remain hopeful of landing the Real Sociedad star. Recent reports had strongly pointed at Real Madrid swooping in for the 26-year-old, although their interest is not considered concrete.
Arsenal are set to embark on a big summer window as Mikel Arteta had suggested a few days ago in a press conference. The Gunners are into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals while they seem destined to finish second in the Premier League once again. The club have already been on the case of some of their top summer targets, with one of them being Martin Zubimendi.
The Gunners had opened talks with Real Sociedad for the UEFA Euro 2024 winner with earlier reports stating they were very close to an agreement. Stories after that stated Zubimendi had a tentative agreement with the Gunners, but media reports after that point have pointed at strong interest from Real Madrid.
New Sporting Director Andrea Berta is being tasked to close the Martin Zubimendi deal on priority ahead of the summer. In recent weeks, Real Madrid had reportedly entered the race, with suggestions that the midfielder might even prefer a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
The idea here was to follow Xabi Alonso, who could potentially take over from Carlo Ancelotti if the Italian leaves Real Madrid this season. The notion behind that idea remains unclear although the only close connection would be Alonso’s connection with Real Sociedad as well as how similar those two individuals are on the field.
However, journalist Ben Jacobs has insisted the interest is not concrete and pointed at Arsenal being hopeful of landing the 26-year-old Euro 2024 winner. Jacobs said, “The interest in Zubimendi is not concrete from Real Madrid. It might be if Xabi Alonso ends up being the manager, but Arsenal are confident they’re going to get that one over the line.”
The wider understanding is that Arsenal have held advanced discussions even before Real Madrid even considered a move for the 26-year-old. The Gunners must be confident of getting this deal over the line as there might be an understanding between all parties. The Euro 2024 winner is likely to replace one of Jorginho or Thomas Partey in the summer, with the duo’s contracts expiring in the summer.
Real Madrid may still have a chance to enter this race in a big way, but going by Jacob’s comments, Arsenal might be far ahead in this hunt. As of now, the feeling is that Martin Zubimendi will join the Gunners, and become a key man under Arteta for next season and beyond.
