Arsenal player chooses to leave the club just five games into the new season, a big setback for Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi is reportedly thinking about leaving the Emirates Stadium just five games into the new season.
Zubimendi joined the Gunners in July 2025 for £60 million from Real Sociedad and was key in helping Mikel Arteta’s team win the Premier League, playing every one of the 38 league games.
He started off well in English football but has since fallen down the team pecking order and might be sold when the January transfer window opens.
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Arsenal have won all four of their Premier League matches this season, most recently a 2-0 win over Sunderland, with new signing Bruno Guimaraes scoring a stunning goal.
Guimaraes is already a favorite with the fans after joining from Newcastle, while Zubimendi has only been used sparingly by Arteta.
The 27-year-old has just 59 minutes across four league games so far, which isn’t too surprising since there were talks of him leaving over the summer.
Xabi Alonso reportedly wanted to sign Zubimendi for Chelsea and had tried to bring him in when he was briefly Real Madrid’s coach.
Real Madrid have stayed in touch with Zubimendi’s camp, and according to TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey, the player will push to leave mid-season if he can’t become a regular starter by the end of the year.
Right now, Zubimendi’s chances look slim with Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, and Guimaraes all preferred ahead of him.
It was also telling that Arteta picked Mikel Merino instead of Zubimendi in midfield for the 1-0 Champions League win over Napoli.
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Zubimendi’s limited playtime isn’t shocking given how well Lewis-Skelly has performed alongside Rice, and how Guimaraes made a strong impact with his goal against Sunderland.
But that doesn’t mean he’s out of favor—Arteta said in August that Zubimendi is a “very important” player for Arsenal.
“Without a doubt, he was one of our best players last season,” Arteta said. “Without him, we wouldn’t have reached where we did in the last few weeks. He deserves huge credit from everyone—coaches, me, and especially his teammates. We wouldn’t be competing at this level without him.
“At the end of the season, he didn’t play much, but he still had important minutes. No one should forget how important he was for us.
“Some people only notice players who appear in finals, but this guy earned that by his work over 10 months. He deserves a lot of credit.”
When asked if Zubimendi might be sold, Arteta replied, “No, he’s really important for us.”
Whether that view has changed after Zubimendi has played just 82 minutes in all competitions this season is unclear—but it looks like a January move could be on the cards, just 18 months into his five-year deal.