Real Madrid's Second Attempt for Martin Zubimendi
Real Madrid circle again. The player is the same. The situation is very different.
Twelve months after failing to hijack Martin Zubimendi’s move to north London, the European champions have returned to the table, testing Arsenal’s resolve over a midfielder Mikel Arteta views as central to his project.
Madrid’s second attempt
football.london understands Real Madrid are once more exploring a deal for Zubimendi, now 27 and fresh from a first season in England that ended with a Premier League winner’s medal and a run to the Champions League final.
Arsenal do not want to sell. Arteta plans for him to stay, and the club tied him down until June 2030 for a reason. Yet, as ever in elite football, there is an acceptance behind the scenes that every player has a price.
Even at the Santiago Bernabéu, though, not everyone is convinced. Senior figures at Madrid are split over whether Zubimendi is the right investment at this stage, a rare lack of alignment at a club that normally moves in lockstep when it truly wants a player.
That hesitation cost them once already.
The one that got away
Arsenal paid a little over £51 million to prise Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, winning a race that also featured Liverpool and Madrid. The groundwork had been laid long before the final push.
The London club had tracked him for some time, weighing up a move as early as the summer of 2024. Back then, the plan was ambitious: Zubimendi and Mikel Merino in the same window. Real Sociedad drew a hard line. Losing two pillars of their midfield in one swoop was a step too far.
So Arsenal played the long game. They kept the dialogue open, protected the relationship with the Basque club and waited. By the time they came back, they were ready to close – and Madrid were too late.
In June 2025, football.london revealed that Real Madrid had only formally registered their interest three months after Arsenal had already thrashed out the deal. By then, the path was clear. Zubimendi was heading to the Emirates.
Arteta’s “key player”
When the transfer finally went through, Arteta did not hide what he thought he had secured.
“Martin is a player who will bring a huge amount of quality and football intelligence to our team,” the Arsenal manager said at the time, describing him as a “key player” in waiting. “He will fit in really well, and he has all the attributes to be a key player for us.
“The 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.”
Andrea Berta, instrumental in completing the move, was equally clear about the scale of the signing.
“We are so happy to bring Martin to Arsenal and have a lot of pride in finalising this transfer. Martin was a key target for us and we all know that he is a perfect fit for our squad with the high quality he has.
“We welcome Martin and his family to the club. We look forward to him settling in with his teammates and are very excited to see him playing in an Arsenal shirt.”
The player himself knew the weight of the step he was taking.
“This is a huge moment in my career. It’s the move I was looking for and one I wanted to make,” Zubimendi said. “As soon as you set foot here, you realise how big this club and this team are.
“I set my sights on Arsenal because their style of play is a good fit for me. They have shown their potential recently, and the best is yet to come.”
A title, a wobble, and a new dilemma
On the pitch, Zubimendi’s first campaign in England was heavy on responsibility and minutes. He featured 57 times across all competitions, scoring six goals and supplying three assists, a workload that underlined exactly how quickly he became part of the core.
He did not finish the season as strongly as he began it. The Spaniard lost his place in the starting XI in the run-in, a reminder of the brutal competition for places in an Arsenal side now built to challenge on multiple fronts.
Yet the honours list is unarguable. Zubimendi helped Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time in more than two decades and reach the Champions League final. That combination of pedigree, age and experience is precisely what keeps Madrid coming back.
For Arsenal, the equation is stark. They fought off Liverpool and Real Madrid once, paid big money, handed out a long contract and watched Zubimendi play his part in ending a 20-year wait for the title.
Now the same club that arrived late to the race is back at the door, with deeper pockets and a clearer view of what he can do at the very top level.
How high would the offer have to be for Arsenal to even pick up the pen?
