Arsenal: Romano picks out ‘perfect’ signing Arteta needs more than £160m duo despite ‘crazy’ claim | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano on Arsenal's transfer business.

Fabrizio Romano has picked out the “perfect” signing for Arsenal who would be better than Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz and Everton’s Amadou Onana.

After making a strong start to the 2023/24 campaign, Arsenal are on a run of winning just one of their past seven matches across all competitions.

To boost their chances of sustaining a challenge for the Premier League title, it has been suggested that Mikel Arteta‘s side could target new signings this month.

Along with a new striker, Arsenal are also being linked with centre-midfielders amid interest in Luiz and Onana, who are reportedly valued at £100m and £60m by Aston Villa and Everton respectively.

Instead of Luiz and Onana, Romano thinks Arsenal should target Real Sociedad standout Martin Zubimendi, who is also being monitored by FC Barcelona.

The 24-year-old Spaniard has made 169 appearances for Sociedad and he is well-placed to secure himself a big move elsewhere. Romano thinks the midfielder is “fantastic” and would be great for Arsenal.

“We’ve had a lot of stories about Arsenal and different midfielders in recent times, with big names like Douglas Luiz, Amadou Onana and Martin Zubimendi linked with the Gunners. It looks difficult for a deal to happen this January, but we’ll see if the situation is different in the summer,” Romano said via his Caught Offside substack column.

“So, which of those players would be the best fit for Mikel Arteta’s side? My personal feeling is that Zubimendi would be fantastic, even if Onana and Douglas have the advantage of both already knowing the Premier League. Zubimendi is a fantastic player, he can help with his vision, quality and intelligence on the ball – he’s the perfect midfielder.

“Still, it’s important to say that he’s very happy at Real Sociedad, only focused on his club and he already rejected chances to leave in recent years as he always wanted to stay there.”

Romano has warned Arsenal that it would take a “crazy” bid to turn Zubimendi’s head as he is “more than happy” where he is.

“Martin Zubimendi is more than happy at the club, he loves the club,” Romano said via Caught Offside’s The Debrief podcast.

“He wants to play in the Champions League with them, so to change his mind it would have to be something completely crazy. Even when Barcelona wanted him in the past he said ‘no thank you’.

“For sure he is on Arsenal’s shortlist, along with Douglas Luiz, he’s super appreciated, but Arsenal would need to convince the player. It’s not about rejecting Arsenal, he’s just super happy at Real Sociedad.”