Arsenal are aiming to take Man City to the Premier League title this season – and signing one midfielder in particular could help them achieve their goal.
Arsenaland’s involvement in the Champions League this week wasn’t limited to London – they also had representatives in the beautiful Basque country of San Sebastian. Not that they had too much time to enjoy the sights of the city, which are amazing even by Spanish standards, because they were busy watching Real Sociedad and Martín Zubimendi.
It was probably not the first time Arsenal had sent scouts to watch a double-capped Spanish side. The Gunners were linked with a bid for the holding midfielder in January, and while the move never seemed to materialise, reports in a number of British outlets suggest Mikel Arteta is still keen to land one of his former club’s biggest talents. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the most exclusive football content straight to your email address
The fact that Arsenal are looking at Zubimendi is interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it suggests that Arteta may be losing faith in his current system.
At full strength, Arsenal played Kai Havertz ahead of Declan Rice, with Martin Ødegaard drifting closer to Bukayo Saka into wider areas – a very attacking line-up that left them lacking in numbers and steel in midfield at times, although they certainly have. helped they control the ball in many games so far. However, Zubimendi’s move would only pay off if Arteta wanted to return to a more defensive double turn.
Arteta has tried it in a few recent games, but Jorginho has not impressed this season and the other obvious candidate for a more defensive role alongside Rice, Thomas Partey, is struggling with injuries – he will miss the game. the rest of the year and may even be questionable Ghana #039; In the African Cup of Nations campaign in
January. Zubimendi’s presence would completely change the way Arsenal played in midfield.
Often compared to Sergio Busquets, Zubimendi is not an attacking player. He is an excellent tackler whose positioning and marking allows him to win the ball back in midfield, and he has the stamina and work ethic to chase opposition midfielders all day – but he is not a player who likes to get forward, preferring to pass the ball. . the ball does the work when he wins it to the side of the back.
Barcelona manager Xavi recently said of Zubimendi that he is a more physical and faster player than Busquets, who is technically better, andquot; which is a fairly fair assessment – although it may slightly overestimate his pace while underestimating his technical ability. A passer with good vision and range who can get the ball down quickly and accurately. Zubimendi is much more than a defensive midfielder looking for easy lateral passes. Advertising
On paper, he could complete Rice’s job quite well. While the England international likes to run with the ball and go forward, Zubimendi prefers to pass the ball up and cover dangerous areas from the back – his game would give Rice more freedom to get forward in that Beckenbauer-esque way without leaving holes. . Zubimendi also tends to stay in the middle areas of the court compared to Rice who likes to drift a little wider, especially to the left. Two players can basically play the same position, but have different roles and both have strengths that should cover the other and#039; relative weaknesses.
Of course, the scouting mission could be strictly exploratory, an option for the future – not that Arsenal are likely to have that long to consider a move. Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were also said to be scouts, not that all were on Zubimendi’s side, while Real Madrid and Barcelona have both been linked with transfer offers in the past. The queue for his services is starting to seem quite long.
It is therefore very likely that any buying club will have to spend enough to exhaust the contract’s mandatory clause of €60m (£52.5m). Sociedad know they have a quality player who will be in the game until 2027 and know there will be many suitors for his services. They don’t need to sell cheap and they won’t, especially as they are in the midst of an exciting run that has seen them finish in the top four of La Liga and now the Champions League.
The league final ended after a 3-1 win over Benfica, with Arsenal scouts just watching. So the question is whether Arteta is interested enough in changing his system to splash all that money on another defensive midfielder. Of course, that’s about half the price the Gunners paid for the rice, which would make it a bargain – but that doesn’t make it cheap, and it would drain financial resources. used on attacker. However, if the Arsenaland manager feels a change of direction is needed to bolster Arsenalland’s title challenge, it seems pretty hard to resist – and it’s equally hard to argue that any team wouldn’t benefit from Zubimendi’s tenacity and talent in their squad.