ArsenalhavereachedaverbalagreementwithRealSociedadmidfielderMartinZubimendi,accordingtoFabrizioRomano.
TheGunnersareexpectedtoactivatethe26-year-old’s €60million (£51million)releaseclauseoncethetransferwindowopens,makinghimMikelArteta’sfirstsigningofthesummer.
SamiMokbel,formerlyoftheMailandnowatBBC**Sport,firstflaggedArsenal’sinterestbackinJanuary.Sincethen,therehavebeenwhispersthatRealMadridcouldswoopfortheSpaininternational,buthenowappearssetonamovetonorthLondon.
AproductofLaReal’sacademy,Zubimendihasmade232appearancesfortheSanSebastiánclubandiswidelyadmiredforhisintelligence,positioningandcomposureinpossession.
He will follow in a lengthening line of current Arsenal men to represent both clubs, including Mikel Merino, Kieran Tierney (on loan from Arsenal), Martin Odegaard (on loan from Real Madrid) and manager Arteta.
HisarrivalwouldbolsterArsenal’smidfieldoptions,particularlywithJorginhosettojoinFlamengo.ItremainstobeseenwhetherThomasPartey,whoisapproachingtheendofhisdeal,willbeofferedfreshterms.
ZubimenditurneddowninterestfromLiverpoollastsummerinfavourofstayinginLaLiga.Thistime,however,allsignspointtotheEmirates.
It’sunderstood thatformersportingdirectorEduandinterimsuccessorJasonAytoledonnegotiationsearlierintheyear,withnewmanAndreaBertanowpickingupthebatontocompletethemove.
Whilethedealisnotyetofficial,theclubareconfidentitwillbewrappedupinthecomingweeks.Oncedone,attentionwillturntostrengtheningtheattackandsourcingaback-upgoalkeeper,withseveralinternalcontracttalksalsoongoing.
BukayoSakaisbelievedtobeclosetoagreeinganewlong-termdeal,whilenegotiationsareunderwaywithGabrielMagalhaesand, according to The Athletic,WilliamSaliba.TheclubarealsokeentotiedownyoungstersMylesLewis-SkellyandEthanNwaneri,andGabrielMartinelli’sfutureisunderdiscussion.