{"id":242951,"date":"2025-07-06T15:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T15:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/242951\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T15:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T15:05:10","slug":"martin-zubimendi-makes-thinly-veiled-liverpool-dig-in-first-interview-as-an-arsenal-player-football-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/242951\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Zubimendi makes thinly veiled Liverpool dig in first interview as an Arsenal player | Football | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Martin Zubimendi appeared to aim a thinly veiled dig at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/liverpool-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arsenal-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> confirmed his transfer to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Spain midfielder looked set to join <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/liverpool-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> last summer and was even apparently <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/1987512\/martin-zubimendi-liverpool-transfer-news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pictured in a Reds shirt<\/a> before pulling the plug on the move at the 11th hour.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/liverpool-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> were keen to make Zubimendi one of their first signings of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arne-slot\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arne Slot<\/a> era after the Dutchman replaced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/jurgen-klopp\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jurgen Klopp<\/a> in the Anfield dugout. But just before the transfer was completed, Zubimendi reportedly had his head turned after <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2068685\/liverpool-arsenal-martin-zubimendi-transfer-news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal chiefs contacted the player\u2019s camp<\/a> to inform them of their interest.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arsenal-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2061125\/Arsenal-deal-Martin-Zubimendi-Sesko-Gyokeres\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reached a complete agreement to sign Zubimendi<\/a> at the end of May after deciding to meet his \u00a351million release clause.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">And after the club officially announced his arrival in north London, the player acknowledged that his transfer to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arsenal-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> was the one he was ultimately after due to their style of play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a huge moment in my career,\u201d he told the <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arsenal.com\/news\/martin-zubimendi-signs-arsenal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arsenal website<\/a>. \u201cIt&#8217;s the move I was looking for and one I wanted to make. As soon as you set foot here, you realise how big this club and this team are.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI set my sights on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arsenal-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> because their style of play is a good fit for me. They have shown their potential recently and the best is yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zubimendi is expected to become a regular starter in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arsenal-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> midfield and will be aiming to take the club to the next level after they missed out on a place in the Champions League final last season following a <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2052112\/arsenal-player-ratings-vs-psg-champions-league\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">two-legged defeat to Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old will be hoping to make his Premier League debut when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arsenal-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> travel to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/manchester-united-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Manchester United<\/a> on the opening weekend of the new campaign in mid-August.<\/p>\n<p>He could then run out at the Emirates for the first time in a league match when the Gunners host Leeds six days later.<\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arsenal-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> boss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/mikel-arteta\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mikel Arteta<\/a> added: \u201cMartin is a player who will bring a huge amount of quality and football intelligence to our team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe will fit in really well and he has all the attributes to be a key player for us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe standard he has consistently performed at over the last few seasons for both club and country is exactly why we are so excited to have him with us. We all welcome Martin and his family to the club.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Martin Zubimendi appeared to aim a thinly veiled dig at Liverpool after Arsenal confirmed his transfer to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[6167,748,393,12031,4884,179,763,23497,101,11947,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-242951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-arsenal-fc","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-football-section","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-liverpool-fc","15":"tag-martin-zubimendi","16":"tag-premier-league","17":"tag-transfer-news-section","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114806912881916158","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242951","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=242951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}