Personal terms agreed’: Arsenal set to announce their first January signing after reaching verbal agreement with £60m La Liga superstar – Player to arrive with His agent tomorrow
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants to sign Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi in this month’s transfer window.
The Gunners have had a disastrous few weeks, haven’t they? They’ve won just one of their last five Premier League games, and fans are hoping their side will strengthen their squad this month. Arsenal manager Arteta is apparently a big admirer of Zubimendi.
Mikel Arteta wants to sign Martin Zubimendi for Arsenal
Arsenal are very short of options in the middle of the park.
Declan Rice is the main man in defensive midfield, while Jorginho is playing the backup role. Mohamed Elneny is set to go away for the African Cup of Nations now, while Thomas Partey is still injured and it is unclear when he’ll be back.
Arsenal could definitely do with another top-quality midfielder who is either capable of playing in the left-sided number eight role or filling in at defensive midfield to allow Rice to move further forward.
It will not be easy for the Gunners to find a feasible target in this month’s window, but Dean Jones has claimed that Mikel Arteta is a big admirer of Martin Zubimendi and Arsenal’s interest in the midfielder is being led by their manager.
Speaking about Zubimendi, Jones told GiveMeSport: “There’s definitely some serious interest in it. It’s hard to gauge at the moment what their ranking would be in terms of order of targets because you’ve got a few names that they’re looking at and the type of player is clearly that defensive-minded one.
“The guy that is going to keep possession, break up play. But it’s really tough to know whether Zubimendi is going to be a top target or just a target. It also depends, of course, on how much money they have to invest in that area of the field.
“It’s a player that definitely I know that Mikel Arteta really admires and I think a lot of this is led by him.”
Arsenal can sign Zubimendi for £53m
Arsenal have had an eye on Martin Zubimendi for quite a long time.
It is no secret at this point that Mikel Arteta is a big fan of the Real Sociedad man, but the Gunners just haven’t been able to get a deal done for him over the last few windows.
If Arsenal really do want to sign Zubimendi this month, they will have to trigger his release clause, which is set at £53 million (Eurosport).
Zubimendi would be a fantastic signing for Arsenal, but it is a really difficult deal to complete – not just because his release clause will have to be paid in full but also because the player has always remained loyal to Sociedad.
