Martin Zubimendi on Arteta, Odegaard, Merino, the EPL, Cesc, Monreal & more | First Interview

Football

Année2025

Durée6m

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7.1

After completing his move, our new midfielder Martin Zubimendi revealed he cannot wait to get down to business in our red and white. The Euro 2024 winner joins from Real Sociedad where he spent 15 years, coming through their famed academy to become a leading light in the middle of the park. While leaving his hometown of San Sebastian wasn’t an easy decision, Martin was left in no doubt that his future was set for north London. “Once I made the decision to leave, I set my sights on Arsenal because I think their style of play is a good fit for me,” our new midfielder said in his first interview. “It’s a young, highly motivated and ambitious team. They have shown their potential recently, and I believe the best is yet to come. As soon as you set foot here, you realise how big this club and this team are. Andrea [Berta] and Mikel [Arteta] took excellent care of me, leaving me with no doubts whatsoever. “This is a huge moment in my career. It's the move I was looking for; one I wanted to make. Of course, it's a big change, but I'm ready to get started.” Zubimendi’s path to success follows similarities to Arteta. The pair turned out for the same youth team, Antiguoko, before both representing Real Sociedad. He said: “We have a lot in common. We come from the same city and played for the same teams. We'll have something to talk about off the pitch, I'm happy about that.” When Martin heads to the Sobha Realty Training Centre, he will be greeted by a few familiar faces. One of whom is Martin Odegaard, and while they only played together for three months, our captain made a lasting impression on our new number 36. He said: “Apart from how hard Martin works on the pitch, I was surprised by how much he works off the pitch at the gym. “He is 100% focused on his fitness. As for Real, it's difficult when you're on loan, but Martin experienced all that.” Zubimendi also featured alongside Mikel Merino during his time at the Reale Arena, making 169 appearances together. As well as al