Mikel Arteta didn’t scratch his face and scalp like Pep Guardiola a few weeks ago. But the Spanish technician is not far from tearing his hair out as his team continues to suffer disappointments. Second in the Premier League, the Gunners were eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester United. To make matters worse, Arteta lost Gabriel Jesus, who suffers from a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee according to the English press. A very bad one for the Londoners, who already have to do without the services of Bukayo Saka, also on the flank.
The transfer window therefore comes at the right time for the residents of the Emirates Stadium. At a press conference this Tuesday, Arteta did not deny it, he who was questioned about the possible recruitment of an attacker. “My answer doesn’t change. My answer remains the same. We are actively researching the transfer window in order to improve the squad. We would be naive not to do so. There is an opportunity to improve the squad. We search and try. Let’s see what we can do. When you recruit a player, there are three parts. We also have our limits, we can do what we can do.”
Arteta has been courting him for a year
Relaunched on the priority of his club, he added: “at any position. We also have other problems. A player can bring things to a team in different ways. That’s what we’re trying to do.” And Pep Guardiola’s former assistant didn’t lie. According to the Daily MailArsenal are on the verge of completing the signing of Martin Zubimendi (25 years old, 22 matches, 1 goal and 1 assist this season). An arrival which is not for this winter, but for next summer. Followed for a very long time by the Londoners, the Real Sociedad midfielder had been made a priority by Arteta.
Arsenal followed him and practically closed this file. The English publication specifies that this operation will cost £51 million, or a little more than €60 million. This is the amount of his release clause, which will be lifted. A sum that the Gunners are ready to pay to offer Arteta a player he has been courting for a year but also to double the competition embodied by Manchester City and Liverpool. If the English hoped to welcome Zubimendi in January, they accepted Real Sociedad’s request to keep him until the end of the season. The end of a long soap opera for Arsenal, which will focus on its urgent needs.
