{"id":169602,"date":"2025-06-09T06:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T06:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/169602\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T06:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T06:49:13","slug":"spains-media-react-to-martin-zubimendis-performance-vs-portugal-after-arsenal-book-medical-for-51m-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/169602\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s media react to Martin Zubimendi\u2019s performance vs Portugal after Arsenal book medical for \u00a351m move"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arsenal fans are already eagerly anticipating the arrival of Spain international Martin Zubimendi this summer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s long been believed that Martin Zubimendi<\/a> will be Arsenal\u2019s<\/a> first recruit under new sporting director Andrea Berta, even if that crown might now be stolen by Chelsea\u2019s Kepa Arrizabalaga.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arsenal are close to a Kepa agreement<\/a> and the goalkeeper might arrive at London Colney a week or two before his compatriot.<\/p>\n

That being said, Kepa wasn\u2019t called up for Spain\u2019s Nations League final against Portugal on Sunday evening, a game in which Zubimendi starred.<\/p>\n

And whilst Spain were ultimately beaten on penalties by Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s side, it was a game which showcased all of Zubimendi\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n

In the 2-2 draw, which was eventually decided after extra-time, Zubimendi played 120 minutes at the heart of Spain\u2019s midfield, the same position he\u2019ll take up for Arsenal.<\/p>\n

The likes of David Raya and Mikel Merino watched on from the bench initially, whilst fellow Arsenal target Nico Williams started at left wing.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Maja Hitij \u2013 UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: Arsenal might have just changed their Ethan Nwaneri plan after \u00a360m transfer decision<\/a><\/p>\n

But despite playing as the six for Spain, it was actually Zubimendi who opened the scoring with one of his marauding runs forward, which will have excited Arsenal fans watching on.<\/p>\n

As a result, Mundo Deportivo<\/a> described Zubimendi\u2019s performance as \u2018indisputable\u2019.<\/p>\n

They wrote: \u201cIn Rodri\u2019s absence, he settled in and was the most dynamic central midfielder. He opened the scoring with a timely goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

El Desmarque<\/a> also gave an exciting review: \u201cProbably one of the best in Spain. He scored the 0-1 by starting the play and coming from the second line and was quite good with the ball, but he lacked teammates in midfield.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Zubimendi will have those midfield teammates ready and waiting in north London, a player who can help elevate Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to the next level.<\/p>\n

Arsenal have booked a medical for Zubimendi<\/p>\n

Despite noise of Real Madrid\u2019s late interest, Arsenal are confident of signing Zubimendi<\/a> this summer, a stance they\u2019ve kept for months.<\/p>\n

Arsenal have booked a medical for Zubimendi<\/a> and the \u00a351m<\/a> Real Sociedad midfielder should be all set to link up with Mikel Merino at the Emirates.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the same can\u2019t quite be said for Athletic Club\u2019s Williams right now.<\/p>\n

Arsenal might struggle to sign Williams<\/a> owing to the winger\u2019s desire to play for Barcelona once he leaves his boyhood club.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s widely believed that Barcelona won\u2019t be signing a winger this summer, and therefore Williams might decide to stay with Athletic Club.<\/p>\n

Either way, Arsenal will have options, and perhaps Berta should try and sign a Premier League winger<\/a> who has already scored three goals against Arteta\u2019s side.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenal fans are already eagerly anticipating the arrival of Spain international Martin Zubimendi this summer. It\u2019s long been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[161,162,2000,299,23497,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-169602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-english-premier-league","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-martin-zubimendi","13":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114652077688462270","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}