Real Sociedad star Martin Zubimendi denies contacts with ex-Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez | OneFootball

Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi has been linked with an exit from the club for much of the past two years, and it was always noted that he was Xavi Hernandez’s preferred option to replace Sergio Busquets. Numerous reports evinced conversations between the two, but Zubimendi has denied anything of the sort.

In an interview with OK Diario, Zubimendi denied that he ever held talks with Xavi. Zubimendi has a €60m release clause, and while Arsenal and Bayern Munich have also been linked with a move for him, no side has put in such an offer, nor have they persuaded Zubimendi to leave his beloved La Real.

“I feel very loved [at Real Sociedad].” Asked what a club would need to bring him to leave the Txuri-Urdin, he said “the people I love and, for the moment, I see it far off.”

“I know how this football, markets and journalism thing goes. I have to assimilate it and that’s it. At first I did get a little angry with you(journalists), but I’m starting to understand you and you’re very nice.”

“I think San Sebastian gives you the opportunity to lead a quiet life. It is a quiet city where they respect the players a lot. It’s true that they see you, they encourage you, but beyond that it never becomes annoying,” he noted.

Certainly plenty of others have been content to head there and to stay at the Reale Arena to develop their careers. Talented players who have struggled elsewhere like Mikel Merino, Takefusa Kubo, Brais Mendez and Adnan Januzaj have flourished at La Real. Meanwhile their academy production line is one of the best in Europe.