Arsenal to complete €60m signing imminently - David Ornstein

Tom Weber

Updated: 29 Mar 2025 15:20 GMT
4 min read

Arsenal are already operating on the assumption that Martin Zubimendi is their player, according to David Ornstein.

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The Real Sociedad man has been Mikel Arteta's top midfield target for some time. The Arsenal manager is said to be infatuated with his fellow Basque and it increasingly looks as though he will finally get his man.

Current ETV

Martín Zubimendi

DM, M (C)

Real Sociedad

Martín Zubimendi

DM, M (C)

Real Sociedad

ETV Range

€49.5M - €60.5M

Zubmendi was close to joining Liverpool last summer, but a late change of heart saw him stay at his boyhood club. It was recently surmised that Arsenal may have intervened in the talks with the Reds and turned the player's head.

Whatever the case, the Gunners reopened talks with Zubimendi over the winter and made huge progress. A deal is expected to be done imminently, although it is not yet clear if they will pay his €60 million Real Sociedad release clause or slightly more but with better payment terms.

Zubimendi has agreed contract terms with Arsenal and will leave his hometown in the summer.

Ornstein dismisses hijack claims

Transfer insider David Ornstein has now provided an update on the situation. During a Q&A session, the journalist dismissed recent reports that Real Madrid could look to attempt a late hijack and revealed that Arsenal already have Zubimendi firmly in their plans for next season.

"Without wanting to discredit the reporting of others, I personally haven’t heard this. Arsenal are expecting Zubimendi to join them from Real Sociedad in the summer.

"I don’t know if that means it is completely done, but for some time now, they have been working on the basis that he’ll be coming in. A huge amount of work went into getting them to that point while Edu was still sporting director and subsequently when Jason Ayto took over that job on an interim basis.

"Andrea Berta will be starting soon as Edu’s permanent successor, so we will hopefully learn a bit more on this one, and other areas, in due course."