ARSENAL have landed their “Tier One” £51m signing of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
The 26-year-old Spaniard arrives at the Emirates on a five-year-deal – the Gunners’ second capture of the summer after spending £5m on Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Taking the No36 shirt, Zubimendi said: “This is a huge moment in my career. It’s the move I was looking for and one I wanted to make. As soon as you set foot here, you realise how big this club and this team are.
“I set my sights on Arsenal because their style of play is a good fit for me. They have shown their potential recently and the best is yet to come.”
His new number, 36, has only ever been worn by eight outfielders.
Zubimendi – a long-term target that has been in the works since last summer – will join up with his new teammates straight away, heading out to Spain next week for a warm-weather camp before travelling to Singapore and Hong Kong on July 19 for their pre-season tour.
Boss Mikel Arteta has been looking for a new No.6 to anchor his midfield since the 2024 summer window, wary that Thomas Partey and Jorginho – who have now both left on a free – had just 12 months left on their Emirates deals.
And Arteta expects Zubimendi to slip straight into his starting XI alongside Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard in a midfield three.
Arsenal and Arteta’s recruitment strategy – supported by sporting director Andrea Berta and their vast team of scouts – are believed to evaluate players in a tier system.
With ‘Tier One’ meeting all parameters to improve the squad and take the team to the next level. In short, they must be ‘world class’.
Zubimendi is in this category due to a number of factors: Arsenal view him as a consistent performer with the ability to control games, set the tempo and initiate play from deep.
One of the areas in detail that caught their eye was his passing range and accuracy.
As well as admiring his intelligence, mentality and work rate, SunSport understands Zubimendi’s impressive injury record was also a huge contributing factor.
Arteta’s men suffered greatly from key players – such as Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz – missing large parts of last term that saw their title charge against Liverpool collapse.
The fact that Zubimendi’s record shows him to play in a high percentage of games every season – rarely spending time in the medical room – ticked another important box.
Last summer, Arteta wanted to raid Sociedad for both Zubimendi AND Mikel Merino, but the Spanish club did not want to lose both, instead letting only Merino join for £32m.
Arsenal presented a solution to Real Sociedad which worked for both parties, allowing Zubimendi one more year in La Liga before activating his £51 release clause.
This plan was complicated by Zubimendi agreeing a deal with Arne Slot’s Reds.
Liverpool were keen to give new manager Slot the midfielder he craved – an impressive ball-playing, tackle-crunching Spaniard who has been tipped to rival Rodri.
Ultimately however, Slot and Liverpool were turned down, with Zubimendi persuaded to remain at his beloved Sociedad by coach Imanol Alguacil and sporting director Roberto Olabe.
They reportedly did so by preparing a presentation on the pros and cons of a Prem switch, pulling on the 26-year-old’s San Sebastian heartstrings with pictures of his favourite local tapas restaurants and mountain hikes he enjoys in the Basque Country.
Zubimendi said of Socieded: “It is where I feel most comfortable”.
It worked, but Alguacil and Olabe could not stop his head being turned by Arsenal and Arteta – a Basque boy convincing another Basque boy to make London his new home.
Arteta and Arsenal’s presentations for potential new signings are nothing new, leaving most players and agents who experience it astounded by the level of detail and care put into them.
Zubimendi was no different, sold on the project and vision at the Emirates, as well as wanting to follow in Arteta’s footsteps – he also left his birthplace of San Sebastian for the bright lights of Barcelona in 1997 aged 15.
SunSport understands that Arteta and Zubimendi had an instant connection.
The player wanted to take the next step in his career but making the move outside of Spain was not an easy decision.
It also helped that Merino spoke glowingly of his time at Arsenal throughout most of last season.
Real Madrid made a late play for Zubimendi in June with new manager Xabi Alonso a big fan, but Arsenal were not concerned.
From March, the transfer had been fully agreed, allowing Arsenal to press on with other targets for the summer, including their long, drawn-out pursuit of a No.9.
Because of the success of this long-term chase, Arsenal are understood to be looking at securing more pre-agreements with players in the future to avoid frustrating summer sagas – a huge shift in how they go about their business off the pitch.
For all the noise around him over the past few years, Zubimendi is not a loud character. He is down-to-earth, humble, at times even shy and anxious.
It is said that while making the decision over whether to sign for Liverpool, he isolated himself at home, refusing to use his phone to fully lock in on a big decision that he also consulted his family over.
However, he is a different beast when he steps on the pitch.
In the last summer window, Arsenal bought Merino because he was a “dual monster”. Zubimendi is not too far behind in that respect.
He is aggressive, assertive. A snarling, hungry athlete of a man who covers every blade of grass competing for space, the ball or a well-timed tackle.
A modern-day Claude Makelele with a sprinkling of Sergio Busquets.
Put simply, Zubimendi is the cog between the defence and the midfield, and right now in Europe, he is viewed as the closest thing to Manchester City’s Rodri.
In the Euro 2024 final against England back in July, Spain were rocked by Rodri’s injury that forced him off at half-time. And yet, his absence was barely felt with Zubimendi on to replace him.
He is used to pressure. Even with the eyes of the world on him days after performing his Liverpool U-turn, he did not miss a single training session, even taking part in a team photo shoot.
He has also had to overcome the odds to even reach this position.
In his early years at Sociedad, the coaches were initially not keen on him, favouring other players and only signing him up at the last minute – a decision that proved wise.
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