Last summer Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad was seriously tempted by a move to the Premier League.
Liverpool wanted the new manager Arne Slot the midfielder he wanted-an impressive ball game, Tackle-Crunching Spaniard who is tipped to be the next Rodri.
In the end, Slot and Liverpool were rejected, with Zubimendi convinced to stay in his beloved Sociedad by his coach Imanol Alguacil and sports director Roberto Olabe.
Allegedly they did this by preparing a presentation for the advantages and disadvantages of a Prem Switch, who pulled the San Sebastian Heartstrings of the 26-year-old with photos of his favorite local tapas restaurants and mountain walks that he enjoys in the Basque Country.
Zubimendi recently claimed: “It is where I feel most at ease”.
It worked, but what Alguacil and Olabe did not expect was a similar approach to Arsenal and Boss Mikel Arteta – a Basque boy who convinced another Basque boy to make London his new home for £ 51 million next season. The Gunners seem to have received their husbands.
The presentations of Arteta and Arsenal for potential new signing sessions are nothing new, which means that most players and agents who experience it surprised about the level of detail and care that was put in it, rather led by former sports director Edu and his assistant Jason Ayto-Nu de Interim.
Zubimendi was no different, sold almost immediately on the project and the vision of the Emirates, and wanted to step into the inspiring footsteps of Arteta, after he had also left his birthplace of San Sebastian for the fierce lights of Barcelona in 1997 at the age of 15.
Arsenal and Sociedad also have a great relationship and respect at management level, which recently negotiated the arrival of Mikel Merino in Noord -Londen for around £ 32 million last summer.
It has stripped Liverpool and lock, and they are not the only ones. Real Madrid, Manchester City and Manchester United are all big fans of the player.
And ironically United can now look at him up close on Thursday evening in their Europa League Last 16 First Been collision away from Real Sociedad.
Despite all the noise around him in recent years, Zubimendi is not a loud character. He is sober, modest, sometimes even shy and anxious.
It is said that, while he made the decision whether he should sign for Liverpool, he isolated himself at home and refused to use his phone to fully enclose a big decision that he also consulted his family.
However, he is another beast when he gets on the field. In the last summer window, Arsenal bought Merino because he was a “double monster”.
Zubimendi is not far behind in that respect.
He is aggressive, assertive. A growling, hungry athlete from a man who covers every blade of grass that compete for space, the ball or a well -timed tackle.
A modern claude makelele with a sprinkling of Sergio Busquets. Simply put, Zubimendi is the gear between the defense and midfield
And at the moment in Europe it is closest to City's Rodri.
In the Euro 2024 final against England in July, Spain was startled by Rodri's injury that forced him during the break. And yet his absence was hardly felt with Zubimendi to replace him.
He is used to putting pressure. Even with the eyes of the world on him days after performing his Liverpool U-turn, he did not miss any training session, even participating in a team photo shoot.
He also had to overcome the chances of even achieving this position. In his early years at Sociedad, the coaches were initially not enthusiastic about him, beneficiaries other players and only signed him at the last minute – a decision that turned out to be wise.
More than a decade and he has been positioned to illuminate a new great occasion, from which he united – and the rest of England – shows what they can expect if he adorns the prems next season.
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