Martin Zubimendi is ‘waiting for a call’ from Real Madrid despite his agreement to join Arsenal this summer, according to Spanish media.
The saga surrounding the Real Sociedad midfielder is still not over. In recent weeks, Real Madrid have repeatedly been linked with a hijack of Arsenal’s deal to sign Zubimendi.
The Gunners made significant progress in talks with the 26-year-old over the winter, and FootballTransfers, as well as other top sources such as David Ornstein and Fabrizio Romano, have continually reported that the Euro 2024 winner will be an Arsenal player next season.
The North London giants have agreed to pay the €60 million fee stipulated in his release clause, and only an official announcement of the transfer is pending. Despite this, the persistent speculation linking him with Real Madrid is refusing to go away.
Spanish outlet COPE has now again fuelled the speculation surrounding Zubimendi by claiming that the midfielder is ‘waiting for a call’ from Real Madrid and that he has yet to make a final decision over his future.
Zubimendi waiting for Real Madrid?
New Los Blancos head coach Xabi Alonso is known to be a huge admirer of Zubimendi. Even before it was clear that he would succeed Carlo Ancelotti this summer, reports suggested that he would pursue a move for the Real Sociedad star if ever put in the Real Madrid hotseat.
The above-mentioned outlet asserts that Zubimendi is stalling on giving Arsenal his final green light as he wants to see how Real Madrid proceed with their pursuit of a new midfielder to replace Luka Modric.
Nico Paz is expected to be brought back from Como, but Alonso reportedly wants to add an additional midfielder and Zubimendi is, unsurprisingly, high on his shortlist.
Should Real Madrid decide to ‘go all out’ for the Basque, he ‘will go to the Spanish capital,’ the report boldly states. This is despite the fact that ‘everything points to’ a move to Arsenal.
Fabrizio Romano previously cast doubt on whether Zubimendi would even want to join another LaLiga side given the deep-rooted connection he has with his boyhood club Real Sociedad.
It has required a monumental effort from Arsenal to convince him to leave his hometown – they’ve been chasing him for several years – and he even turned down a move to Liverpool last summer, so surely he wouldn’t want to play against Real Sociedad on a regular basis.
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