Martin Zubimendi is an Arsenal player… finally

New York Times

2 days ago

After months of negotiations, and years of interest, Mikel Arteta finally has his man.
Martin Zubimendi, the 26-year-old Spain international, has joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad on a five-year contract for a fee of around €65million (£55.8m; $76.6m). Arsenal will pay more than Zubimendi's €60million release clause but the compromise means they will be able to pay the fee in installments, rather than as one lump sum.
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The timing of the announcement is significant, too. The Basque club expressed a preference for the deal to be ratified at the start of July, for accounting purposes, and Arsenal were happy to accommodate their wishes.
It was necessary. For a player as closely intertwined with Real Sociedad as Zubimendi, the prospect of an acrimonious departure was out of the question.
That is the story of this deal: despite the release clause, the two clubs collaborated to find an agreement which suited all parties and the transfer was agreed in full in March of this year, pending regulatory processes.
The Athletic has spoken to people with an understanding of the negotiations to detail how the deal was done.
Arsenal's interest in Zubimendi goes back several years.
When Arsenal were watching Real Sociedad in 2019-20, keeping tabs on the progress of Martin Odegaard and Alexander Isak, Zubimendi was already on the fringes of the first team.
Over the years that followed, Arsenal and Arteta's admiration steadily grew. Throughout, the Arsenal manager has been the driving force behind Arsenal's pursuit.
In January 2023, Arsenal needed a holding midfielder. Zubimendi was discussed along with Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo, then of Brighton.
Arsenal were willing to trigger the €60million release clause for Zubimendi, but the midfielder was adamant he preferred to remain in San Sebastian until the summer. Instead, Arsenal signed Jorginho in January, and then Rice the following July.
But the lines of dialogue remained open. Zubimendi is represented by Inaki Ibanez of Spanish agency IDUB Global. Ibanez is a close friend of Arteta, and shares his representation with Wasserman.
In the summer of 2024, with Arsenal looking to bolster their midfield, then sporting director Edu engaged in talks with Real Sociedad over two of their players: Zubimendi and Mikel Merino.
Real Sociedad accepted it would be difficult to keep Merino: his contract had just 12 months left to run, he had rebuffed the club's attempts to extend it and a deal was agreed with Arsenal by the end of August. But losing Merino and Zubimendi in the same summer was a threat to the stability of the team and Real Sociedad were not willing to contemplate the prospect of losing both.
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Of course, that wasn't entirely in their hands. Zubimendi's release clause meant he could forcibly leave the club if the €60m fee was paid in a single sum to La Liga's central offices in Madrid.
Liverpool were prepared to oblige, and felt at one stage they had the player's commitment; so much so they were simply waiting for the player to board a private jet bound for the north west of England.
He never did. Ultimately, Zubimendi was persuaded to remain at Real Sociedad.
It was expected that Zubimendi's decision to stay might result in a lucrative new contract. No agreement was reached, however. There was no increased salary or a higher release clause. This was instead about his commitment to the club, the region and the project.
When Zubimendi chose to reject Liverpool's offer, he was already well aware of Arsenal's interest. The club say that, with Jorginho and Thomas Partey going into the final year of their contracts, Zubimendi was already their top target for this role, a world-class No 6 who could go straight into the team.
And Arsenal were eager to avoid the same fate as Liverpool — they volunteered to trigger the clause, only to be met with resistance by Real Sociedad, who ultimately persuaded Zubimendi to stay. Given the deep emotional ties between Zubimendi and his boyhood club, Arsenal reasoned a deal would only be achievable with the consent of Real Sociedad. It also appeared that Zubimendi and Real Sociedad would only part ways with each other's blessing.
Arsenal instead resolved to go through the front door, and negotiate a transfer separately to the clause. Those talks began last summer, and developed through the winter.
Arsenal leaned on the relationship between the clubs built by talks over the likes of Nacho Monreal, Kieran Tierney and Merino, and Edu passed the baton to interim sporting director Jason Ayto, who helped see the transfer through to completion.
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Arteta and Zubimendi are said to have created an instant and strong connection during negotiations, while the player's close relationship with his Spain team-mate Merino also helped convince him to move to the Emirates.
In the early part of 2025, Real Sociedad officials travelled to London to conclude the agreement. By the time Andrea Berta arrived in April, the deal was all but done. Berta may have pursued a different profile if given more time — during his time at Atletico Madrid, Zubimendi was not a player Berta coveted.
While privately Arsenal considered the deal done, publicly a soap opera played out across Spanish media. Zubimendi was tirelessly linked with a potential move to Real Madrid and Arsenal did believe there was interest there.
There was a certain logic to it too: Madrid are often able to cherry pick from La Liga's best, and Zubimendi grew up idolising their incoming head coach, Xabi Alonso. But people at Real Madrid continually denied their intention to bid for Zubimendi. They already knew his move to Arsenal was agreed. At one stage, one Madrid source described the rumours as, 'a lie as big as a castle'.
For their part, Arsenal were already counting on Zubimendi for next season.
By May, Arsenal were applying for Zubimendi's visa. In San Sebastian, team-mates and staff would joke about the impending move, and tease him with English words and phrases.
Leaving the Basque country will be a wrench for Zubimendi, and require some adaptation. He speaks some English, and is said to be bright and academically able. La Real place a big emphasis on education for their young players and Zubimendi is already undertaking a degree in sports science.
His adaptation will be eased by the fact that he has already played alongside Odegaard and Merino for Real Sociedad. Kepa and David Raya will also be familiar to him from the Spain national team.
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While Arsenal's interest may have been driven by Arteta, the scouting reports were also glowing. A year ago, the question may have been over the fit, given Rice was signed for £105million, theoretically to play as a No 6. It has become clear, however, that Arteta prefers Rice as a free-running No 8; an idea solidified during a conversation between manager and player in early 2024-25.
That opens the door for Zubimendi to step into Arsenal's system as the No 6 and successor to Partey and Jorginho.
Arsenal appreciate Zubimendi's ability to control games and set the tempo in midfield, initiating play from deep positions with his passing range. They were also impressed with his mentality, availability (he has rarely been injured during his career) and work ethic.
No 6 will be his primary role, but he offers flexibility too and it's possible that Zubimendi and Rice could occasionally be paired together in a double pivot. Those closest to Zubimendi also believe there is an attacking dimension to his game that is yet to be unlocked.
By mid-June, Zubimendi was in London meeting with Arsenal officials and completing the formalities of the transfer.
This time, there was no late change of heart about a move to the Premier League. He made his commitment to Arteta and Arsenal some time ago. Like Arteta before him, Zubimendi will now bring a little of the Basque country to the Arsenal midfield.
Additional contributors: Mario Cortegana and Guillermo Rai
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Juan Manuel Serrano Arce, Getty Images)