Arsenal have completed the signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad or a fee of around €65million (£55.8m; $76.6m).
Payment of the fee will made in installments rather than one lump sum and the 26-year-old Spain international has signed a five-year contract until 2030.
As part of this summer’s transfer coverage at The Athletic, in addition to breaking news, tactical analysis and in-depth reads, our Transfers TLDR series (you can read them all here) will bring you a quick guide to each of the key deals.
Give me their backstory in 100 words…
Before joining Zubieta, the academy of hometown club Real Sociedad, aged 12, Zubimendi played at Antiguoko — a youth club where his former Real Sociedad B coach Xabi Alonso and new manager Mikel Arteta spent some of their development years. After grafting his way from there through La Real’s C and B teams, Zubimendi made the first of 236 senior appearances in April 2019. A major highlight was helping La Real win the 2020 Copa del Rey against Basque Country rivals Athletic Club (the final was held in April 2021 due to the pandemic).
He is a European Championship winner with Spain after featuring in four of their games last summer, including the final victory over England, where he replaced Rodri for the second half.
Caoimhe O’Neill
What should, and shouldn’t, I expect to see?
You can be watching Zubimendi, but he is not watching you, he is locating space to receive the ball or intercept it. A defensive midfield metronome, Zubimendi is rhythmic and dictates play in a traditional Spanish way. He can do so with short, sharp passes or a little more zing out to the wing. He loves a drop of the shoulder and escaping pressure when in possession.
He can chip in with goals and assists, but don’t expect him to be chart-topping, he is usually the one playing the pass before the pass.
Caoimhe O’Neill
How will they fit tactically?
Zubimendi will offer much-needed press resistance in Arsenal’s midfield as they look to progress through the thirds. The Spanish international is an upgrade on 32-year-old Thomas Partey, while offering a stronger ability to receive the ball under pressure than Declan Rice.
(Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Always offering himself for a pass, Zubimendi can be Arsenal’s release valve when they are in possession. Not only does this help during Arteta’s build-up, but such security on the ball will unlock space elsewhere on the pitch — namely Arsenal’s wide areas. If the likes of Odegaard and Rice know the ball will arrive from the Spanish maestro, they can have a higher starting position and operate to greater effect in those wide networks. With Arsenal having struggled to break down low blocks at times, Zubimendi’s arrival could have a cascading effect on the team’s attack.
Mark Carey
What’s his injury record?
Aside from a few minor muscle injuries, Zubimendi arrives with a strong injury history across his career. After his first full season breaking into Real Sociedad’s first team in 2020-21 (making 17 league starts), Zubimendi has played a minimum of 75 per cent of his side’s available minutes for the past four campaigns, playing more minutes than any other La Real outfielder in La Liga last season.
He will need time to adapt to the physical rigours of the Premier League, but barring a freak accident, there should be little concern about Zubimendi’s body breaking down.
Mark Carey
Someone who knows him says…
“Martin’s a player all coaches would want,” Xabi Alonso told The Guardian in 2022.
“He’s generous, he always thinks more about his team-mates than himself. He has that ability to generate play, to make those around him better, always offering solutions; to improve the move. He understands what the next step is before the ball gets to him. He has that ability to organise, the axis. I loved working with him.”
Caoimhe O’Neill
What do we know about the finances of the deal?
Zubimendi has signed for Arsenal on a five-year contract, ending in June 2030. Arsenal have exceeded Real Sociedad’s €60million release clause for the widely admired central midfielder, paying €65m (£55.8m) to ensure the fee can be spread via instalments rather than in one expensive swoop.
Arsenal’s 2024-25 accounting period ended on May 31, so nothing related to this deal was ever likely to fall into those accounts (in other words, the delay hasn’t been for that purpose). In Spain, Sociedad’s new financial year started this week, and this deal will provide a welcome boost to finances as they embark upon their first campaign without European football since 2019-20.
Chris Weatherspoon
What impact will this have on both clubs’ PSR calculation?
After accounting for assumed agent fees and levies, Zubimendi’s signing will add an estimated £11.5m in transfer fee amortisation costs to Arsenal this season.
While Arsenal will pay his fee in instalments – and thus pay more than if they’d just met the release clause in one go – that makes no difference to how the costs hit Arsenal’s books. They’ll still be amortised over Zubimendi’s five-year contract.
That amortisation figure ticks up to £12.8m per season until 2029-30. Thereafter, £1.0m, or one month’s worth, of amortisation will fall into 2030-31, owing to Arsenal’s May 31 accounting date.
As is commonly the case, Zubimendi’s wage at his new club isn’t reliably known. What is safe to say is that the total cost of Arsenal employing him over the next five years will go well beyond the estimated £63.6m in transfer and associated fees.
For Real Sociedad, Zubimendi had little book value, having been reared in the club’s academy. They’ll therefore be able to book pretty much all their €65m as profit in 2025-26.
Sociedad have been profitable in each of the past two seasons for which we have figures, but 2023-24’s surplus was driven by Champions League football. Without that in 2022-23, they needed €46.1m in player profits to ensure profitability, and it will be much the same story this coming season. With only a mid-table finish achieved in last season’s La Liga, the profit made on Zubimendi will help offset a lack of European football this year.
Chris Weatherspoon
(Top photo: Getty Images)
