ARTETA’S GREATEST VICTORY AT ARSENAL MAY BE BEATING REAL MADRID TO ZUBIMENDI
One wonders whether Xabi Alonso, the recently sacked Real Madrid head coach, was watching this League Cup semi-final from his home in Spain. If he was, he might have allowed himself a sigh of frustration in the 71st minute, when Martín Zubimendi worked the ball onto his left foot and launched a fabulous strike into the corner of Chelsea’s net.
Alonso, according to reports that have been published since his sacking, desperately wanted to sign Zubimendi in the summer. Diario AS, the Spanish sports newspaper, wrote this week that Alonso told the hierarchy his priority transfer target was Zubimendi. The report added that Alonso privately and repeatedly complained to his coaching staff about the club’s failure to sign the midfielder.
Alonso’s loss, it is now safe to say, was emphatically Mikel Arteta’s gain. The Arsenal manager and Alonso are childhood friends but they went to battle to sign Zubimendi – all three men played for the same Basque youth team, Antiguoko – and it was Arteta who won. It helped enormously that Arsenal moved early: they first put their Zubimendi plan into action in the summer of 2024, a full year before he arrived in north London.
This League Cup meeting with Chelsea provided yet another example of Zubimendi’s quality, and demonstrated how he has elevated Arsenal’s midfield to another level this season. Zubimendi is capable of controlling the game from the centre of the pitch, as Thomas Partey and Jorginho did in previous campaigns, but he is also able to do so much more.
His goal – a gorgeous finish with his weaker foot, after a feint to create space for himself in the penalty box – was further evidence of Zubimendi’s ability when he has possession. He also showed considerable energy and enthusiasm off the ball, twice darting behind the Chelsea defence in the first half.
Such adventurous running would simply not have been seen from Arsenal’s holding midfielders in previous seasons. Partey and Jorginho were neither capable nor willing to try such things. Zubimendi is a more dynamic, complete central midfielder – and he has already made himself fundamental to this Arsenal team.
“He can do whatever he wants,” said Arteta of Zubimendi. “We just have to keep unlocking that in his system, in his brain. He is so good at occupying different spaces, he is carrying the ball, dribbling, winning duels and he has a talent when he gets into the final third and into the box. He is so composed. He sees the picture very clearly.”
So far this season, Zubimendi has started all but one Premier League game. In the one match he did not start, he was brought on to the pitch as a 30th-minute substitute. He has also started all but one of Arsenal’s Champions League games. Overall, he has played more minutes than any other outfielder in Arteta’s squad, including mainstays Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber.
“I watched a lot of him before he even signed for us,” said Rice of Zubimendi in an interview with Sky Sports earlier this month. “The way his brain works is ridiculous. Takes the ball on the half-turn, one and two touch. Left foot, right foot.
“When I knew he was coming in, I knew it would help to free me up a bit. Because he is always there. We have that natural understanding. The manager is always banging on to us two about playing close together, having a close relationship on the pitch in terms of passing distances, being able to pass the ball to each other at every opportunity.”
Rice is not the only player to benefit from Zubimendi’s arrival. In recent weeks, Zubimendi has facilitated some fabulous individual performances from Martin Odegaard, too.
The 26-year-old, who joined from Real Sociedad for around £55m, is the summer signing who has made the biggest impact on Arsenal this season. Arsenal spent around £250m in the summer and, of the eight new arrivals, Zubimendi undoubtedly represents the best use of funds. This is a world-class operator, described by his international manager as the second-best midfielder in the game (behind Manchester City’s Rodri).
The Arsenal fans already appreciate Zubimendi’s quality but they will soon learn to love his personality, too, if he continues to play with the same fire and aggression he showed at Stamford Bridge. At full-time he clashed with Enzo Fernández, laughing in the face of the furious Chelsea midfielder. Such feistiness and character will only solidify his role as one of the new favourites at Arsenal.
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2026-01-15T07:15:43Z