Again in January, with Arsenal’s title problem crumbling, Mikel Arteta was already considering forward.
He not often loses sight of the lengthy recreation, and his pursuit of Martin Zubimendi – months of persuasion and persistence to land the Spanish midfield maestro – is already paying dividends.
As Day by day Mail Sport reported in January, the Gunners had just about accomplished a deal for the midfielder, to be finalised in the summertime. It took time. They’d needed to struggle off Actual Madrid and Liverpool. And it took £60million in July – £9m over his launch clause – to take the participant away from the Basque area the place he grew up.
Arteta’s impassioned pitch over the telephone, outlining intimately how the 26-year-old would operate in Arsenal’s midfield, proved decisive. So did the participant’s perception that silverware was inside touching distance on the north London membership.
The outcome? Arsenal’s reply to Manchester Metropolis’s Rodri: a measured, metronomic No6 whose arrival has pushed their system from aggressive to controlling.
Zubimendi’s positional intelligence and defensive timing – snapping on the heels of opponents, robbing them in terrier-like style – has shortly turn into the primary gear in Arteta’s machine. And, crucially, it has additionally liberated Declan Rice to wreak havoc larger up the pitch.
Martin Zubimendi celebrates his objective in opposition to Nottingham Forest earlier within the season. The Spaniard is regarded as a holding midfielder however he is influencing video games in an attacking approach
Arsenal beat Liverpool and Actual Madrid to the £60million signing of Zubimendi from Actual Sociedad in July
The Gunners didn’t merely recruit one other midfielder after they signed Zubimendi. They might have recruited that lacking chunk of their id. Their greatest purchase since Rice? Arguably. The Premier League’s signing of the summer season? You possibly can make a case for it.
Some gamers take time adjusting to a international league. A peer over at Florian Wirtz at Liverpool, for instance, places Zubimendi’s assimilation into perspective. His readability in possession, particularly underneath strain, has steadied Arsenal’s build-up and given them a peaceful in transition they’ve typically lacked.
Arteta informed Day by day Mail Sport: ‘You need to adapt to the league within the bodily and emotional half. It isn’t simple. You come to a special membership, totally different nation, he’s by no means been away from dwelling. You need to take care of all that. He is completed it brilliantly.
‘Why? As a result of he is such character that has related with all people so quick. After which his qualities, he’s such a gifted and clever participant that picks issues up instantly. He must proceed like that as a result of nonetheless he can enhance and do far more for the group.’
The defensive midfielder’s affect within the remaining third has additionally been a bonus. It was not the primary purpose for signing Zubimendi. However he scored a right-footed volley from exterior the realm in opposition to Nottingham Forest early within the season and added a headed effort later within the recreation to seal the victory.
He has turn into a menace across the space and was unfortunate to not rating in opposition to Sunderland earlier than the worldwide break when his strike hit the crossbar. Arteta added: ‘The final recreation (in opposition to Sunderland) is a superb instance. He hits the bar, he places one throughout very near the submit. He has one other motion that he dribbles inside and shoots with the correct foot. On set-pieces, he is been excellent as properly. We’d like that: a complete participant.’
Zubimendi arrived with a resume that had lengthy made information analysts and coaches purr. At Actual Sociedad he ranked amongst La Liga’s most constant conductors: fourth for passes (1,752), profitable passes (1,479) and touches (2,197) within the 2024-25 marketing campaign.
No shock, then, that each Liverpool and Actual Madrid circled. Madrid’s curiosity was knowledgeable by his former mentor Xabi Alonso; Liverpool noticed a long-term inheritor to their very own midfield rebuild. It even concerned the Reds’ pitch displaying Zubimendi, a eager mountain climber, photos of Mount Urgull, one among a number of peaks he likes to hike up within the space.
Zubimendi in motion for Actual Sociedad, the place he was persistently among the many greatest passers in La Liga
With Arsenal coach Gabriel Heinze and boss Arteta, who additionally performed for La Actual, earlier this month
But, when it mattered, his alternative was clear – helped by the truth that each he and Arteta performed for La Actual – and even began out on the identical youth membership, Antiguoko. The pair shaped an immediate and powerful connection. ‘As soon as I made the choice to go away, I set my sights on Arsenal,’ Zubimendi informed the membership’s web site. ‘Their type of play fits me – a younger, formidable group with its greatest years forward.’
Arteta was equally unequivocal, calling him ‘a participant who will convey large high quality and soccer intelligence’. Inside London Colney, the message was even sharper: this was no depth signing. This was a cornerstone.
Sources near the participant comment first on his physique. From afar, he appears to be like slight and diminutive; but in particular person he’s sturdier than anticipated – sturdy sufficient to aerially compete regardless of standing 5ft 11in. In coaching, they are saying these tight, three-yard passes that take two opponents out of the image have already turn into a function.
Off the pitch, he has shortly settled among the many membership’s Spanish cohort, together with Mikel Merino, who had initially advisable him to Arteta, in addition to reconnecting with one other former Actual Sociedad team-mate in Martin Odegaard.
Naturally, when discussing fashionable No 6s, one reference level is unavoidable: Rodri, the Ballon d’Or-winning fulcrum of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester Metropolis. In profile, the resemblance is putting – excessive move volumes, calm underneath strain, clever positioning.
The statistics mirror this. In his 11 Premier League video games to date, Zubimendi has accomplished 702 passes at 89 per cent accuracy. Solely Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson has accomplished extra passes (786). Amongst Arsenal’s midfielders, he ranks No1 for tackles (21), interceptions (12) and open-play sequence involvements (456).
Sure, Rodri stays the benchmark. However Zubimendi seems like Arsenal’s variant – the model designed particularly for the intricacies and tempo Arteta desires.
His affect is seen in Rice’s transformation. Final season, Rice was all over the place: shielding the again line, urgent excessive, carrying the ball, arriving late within the field. The output was sensible, however unsustainable – a relentless compromise between duties.
The signing of Zubimendi has allowed Declan Rice to play additional up the pitch this season
Zubimendi isn’t the loudest participant on the pitch. He’s the calm contained in the storm, the quiet revolution on the coronary heart of Arteta’s midfield
Arteta has pushed Rice larger up the pitch this season which has already garnered two objectives and 5 assists throughout all competitions. The England midfielder stated final month: ‘I can play No 6 or No 8. I feel now I’m extra of a box-to-box No 8. The supervisor has adjusted my place a bit this yr, giving me extra freedom to drop deep but in addition get into the field once I can.’
Rice had defensive cowl final season from Thomas Partey, however Zubimendi – more adept at not getting dragged out of the group form and leaving areas when stepping out – has supplied a constant anchor that lets Rice hunt and assault with fewer defensive handbrake moments.
It’s not simply Rice. Throughout the board, there have been various adjustments. Arsenal’s press is cleaner, much less frantic. The chaos that after crept into transitions has receded.
Zubimendi’s arrival additionally speaks to the Gunners’ evolving recruitment mannequin. Somewhat than chasing short-term fixes, they’re constructing a backbone for the long run: Odegaard, Rice, Zubimendi — every getting into their peak years, every technically safe and tactically adaptable.
Selecting Arsenal over Liverpool and Madrid wasn’t only a soccer determination. It was a logo: that the challenge Arteta has constructed is now steady sufficient to face alongside Europe’s giants, attractive gamers who as soon as would have appeared elsewhere for silverware. Zubimendi isn’t the loudest participant on the pitch. He’s the calm contained in the storm, the quiet revolution on the coronary heart of Arteta’s midfield — and, perhaps, their season’s defining issue.
