Arsenal Reportedly Secure Martin Zubimendi Transfer Agreement
The Real Sociedad midfielder who backed out of a Liverpool move in the summer is expected to join Arsenal at the end of the season.
There’s an old saying that amounts to no press being bad press. An idea that as long as people are talking about you it’s probably a good thing. That probably doesn’t apply, though, to a string of stories that amount to making one look bad at their job.
Which brings us to the latest story making Liverpool’s upper management look bad with a report out of Arsenal land care of one of their most reliable press outlets, The Mail’s Sami Mokbel, claiming the Gunners have secured Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi for a summer move.
Liverpool believed they had convinced the player to make the switch to Merseyside over the summer only for the player to pull out of the deal at the last minute and leave them without the one signing new head coach Arne Slot had highlighted as necessary.
That Slot and his Reds have made the team tick without that signing is a credit to the coaching staff—and obviously to standout Ryan Gravenberch, the surprise standout of the season in a role few expected him to ever play in when he was signed by the club’s previous recruitment team.
In a summer when Liverpool’s only signing was the opportunistic grab of the permanently injured or unfit Federico Chiesa, though, Zubimendi was a big miss for returning transfer guru Michal Edwards and his hand-picked director of football Richard Hughes.
Since then, there has also been the public failure to resolve contract issues surrounding top stars Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold with the first two seeming still up in the air and most believing Alexander-Arnold is likelier than not to end up at Real Madrid next season.
Most recently, club leaks outlining an interest in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who appears likely now to end up at Paris Saint-Germain, haven’t helped with the appearance of competence for Liverpool’s upper management. Zubimendi to Arsenal now is another blow.
While Edwards in particular will get credit for picking Arne Slot to take over as head coach for the departing Jürgren Klopp, the new manager is working with the last team’s players and now more than six months in we’re yet to see a playing staff or recruitment side win for Edwards and Hughes.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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