Thomas Partey is going to leave Arsenal at the end of this season and according to reports, Arteta wants to bring in Martin Zubimendi as his replacement.
Partey has become massively injury-prone over the previous two seasons and with his contract expiring in 2025, the Gunners will look to offload him during the summer transfer window. Mikel Arteta wants to bring in a high-profile replacement and Martin Zubimendi is supposedly a priority target.
Martin Zubimendi is a product of the Real Sociedad academy and since making his senior debut in 2020, the defensive midfielder has played 175 games across all competitions. Zubimendi is very composed on the ball and he has the ability to initiate plays from the deep-lying position which is why the 25-year-old has been likened to Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets.
Martin Zubimendi is contracted with Sociedad until 2027 and he has a release clause of £51 million and that’s very reasonable for someone who’s played more than 150 senior games.
Thomas Partey is expected to fetch around £25-30 million in the summer which makes a move for Zubimendi even more lucrative.
Arsenal have been eyeing Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz but Villa are adamant about holding onto the midfielder and they have already rejected several bids. The Gunners will go back for Luiz at the end of this season but it will be incredibly hard to bring him in which is why Mikel Arteta is shifting his focus to Martin Zubimendi.
Last season, Partey featured in 40 games for Arsenal but owing to all the injuries, the midfielder has played just 251 minutes of Premier League football this campaign. Jorginho has done really well in Partey’s absence this season but the Arsenal manager has to bring in a long-term partner for Declan Rice by the end of the summer.
Paying £51 million for a player of Martin Zubimendi’s calibre seems very logical. However, there’s a sense that Arsenal will initially pursue Douglas Luiz. Only if Aston Villa prove unwilling to part with Luiz will Arsenal then fully concentrate on securing the Real Sociedad midfielder.
