Arsenal could collect a record sale for one of their squad – but there’s a catch: they don’t want to sell.
The Gunners got off to a storming start in the Premier League on Friday night, playing with a lot more freedom and expression than Arsenal fans came to expect last season against a newly-promoted Coventry City.
But with the transfer window drawing to a close next week, manager Mikel Arteta could well part with a star that he wants to keep, and actually used on the opening day of the season.
Martin Zubimendi could yet leave Arsenal for Real Madrid
Martin Zubimendi has been linked with an exit from Arsenal since the Gunners signed Bruno Guimaraes in the same position – given that Real Madrid were desperate to sign the midfielder before he penned a move to North London last summer.
Los Blancos lost out in their pursuit of Rodri earlier this summer, and now Spanish outlet Fichajes has relayed information from journalist Tomas Gonzalez Martin that Arsenal have set Zubimendi’s price tag at £100 million – over £60m more than Arsenal have ever sold a player for – with the 15-time European champions considering him as a deep-lying playmaker for manager Jose Mourinho’s midfield.
According to the report, “Zubimendi would be willing to play for Real Madrid, but [Madrid president] Florentino Perez is not considering making the move for that amount.”
Arteta has publicly denied that Arsenal will part with the 27-year-old, meanwhile, recently calling him an “important player”.
“Without a doubt, he was one of the best players for Arsenal last season,” the Gunners boss said of his fellow Basque, adding, “Without him, we would never have got into the position that we got into in the last few weeks”.
Zubimendi started 34 of 38 league fixtures in Arsenal’s Premier League-winning campaign – appearing in the other four off the bench – and started 11 of the club’s 14 matches in the Champions League, establishing himself as a key man for his new club and becoming integral to Arteta’s new-look midfield.
But while the no.36 started the season strongly – even recording a brace in just his fourth appearance for Arsenal, against Nottingham Forest – Zubimendi ran out of steam towards the end of the season and lost his place in the engine room to Hale Ender, Myles Lewis-Skelly.
FourFourTwo understands that Arsenal would only consider moving Zubimendi on for the right price, with Arteta wanting depth in his midfield this season to compete on four fronts.
New signing Guimaraes missed the opening game of the campaign following a knock, while Declan Rice has suffered with injury and fatigue in recent months, meaning that Zubimendi may well have a bigger part to play than is perhaps immediately obvious.
The World Cup winner is worth €75m, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal face Aston Villa when Premier League action continues next week.