Arsenal finally announce £55m signing | OneFootball

Arsenal have finally announced the arrival of Martin Zubimendi on what is believed to be a £55m deal.

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Speaking to the official Arsenal site, Zubimendi said of the move, “This is a huge moment in my career. It’s the move I was looking for and one I wanted to make. As soon as you set foot here, you realise how big this club and this team are.

“I set my sights on Arsenal because their style of play is a good fit for me. They have shown their potential recently and the best is yet to come.”

Mikel Arteta said, “Martin is a player who will bring a huge amount of quality and football intelligence to our team. He will fit in really well and he has all the attributes to be a key player for us.

“The standard he has consistently performed at over the last few seasons for both club and country is exactly why we are so excited to have him with us. We all welcome Martin and his family to the club.”

Andre Berta added, We are so happy to bring Martin to Arsenal and have a lot of pride in finalising this transfer. Martin was a key target for us and we all know that he is a perfect fit for our squad with the high quality he has.

“We welcome Martin and his family to the club. We look forward to him settling in with his teammates and are very excited to see him playing in an Arsenal shirt.”

He will wear the number 36 shirt, which belonged to Tommy Setford last season.

Martín Zubimendi, born in San Sebastián in 1999, joined Real Sociedad’s academy in 2011 after starting out at Antiguoko. He made his senior debut with Real Sociedad C in 2016 and then played regularly for the B team, making 50 appearances and scoring four goals between 2017 and 2020.

He made his La Liga debut for the first team in April 2019 in a 2-1 win over Getafe, and became a regular from the 2020–21 season onwards.

He renewed his contract there until 2025 in July 2020, then extended again to 2027 in October 2022.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Zubimendi played a key role in Real Sociedad’s return to the Champions League and made 236 league appearances for the first team.

He has featured in the Champions League and was part of the Real Sociedad side that won the 2020 Copa del Rey, beating Athletic Club in the final.

Internationally, Zubimendi represented Spain at U17, U19, U21, and U23 levels, winning silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

He made his senior debut in 2021 and was part of the squad that won Euro 2024, making substitute appearances in both the semi-final and final.

He also featured in Spain’s 2022–23 Nations League victory and the 2024–25 runner-up campaign.

Wanted seriously by both Liverpool and Real Madrid, Arsenal have landed themselves a real gem.