Barcelona priority midfield target will not leave, says club president: “Going to stay” | OneFootball

Speaking to the media, Real Sociedad president Jokin Apperibay has claimed that Martin Zubimendi will not be leaving the club this summer, amid strong links to La Liga champions FC Barcelona.

With Sergio Busquets set to leave Barcelona imminently, manager Xavi Hernandez has made it abundantly clear that he wants a top-class pivot midfielder to replace his captain in the summer.

As such, Zubimendi is understood to be at the top of the manager’s wishlist even though the Blaugrana are in a tricky situation financially and might be unable to meet his €60 million release clause.

Despite that, though, Xavi continues to prioritise a move for the Spaniard. But, La Real president Apperibay has pretty much ruled out the possibility of Zubimendi leaving this summer, claiming that the defensive midfielder wants to stay put in San Sebastian.

“When they come for a player, there is little you can do, but I don’t think any of the Real players are going to leave. We are certainly not going to open any doors,” the Real Sociedad president told the media (h/t Mundo Deportivo).

Talking about Zubimendi in particular, he said: “Nobody has told me that they want to buy Zubimendi and I believe that Martin is going to stay and that he doesn’t want to leave.”

“He is a very important player for us who wants to play in the Champions League next year with Real and we have no intention of seeing him going to Barcelona or any other team.”

When further probed about the transfer and asked if he would answer a call from Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Apperibay said:

“Yes, of course, I’ll answer the phone for sure. Joan is a great person, he can call me to congratulate us because I’m sure he’s happy that Real are in the Champions League.”

Apart from Zubimendi, Barcelona have several other prospective targets on their agenda for the pivot position. One of them is Guido Rodriguez of Real Betis and unlike Sociedad, Los Verdiblancos are open to selling the Argentine international.