Xavi has now heaped praise on Martin Zubimendi – a player who is allegedly close to joining Arsenal.
A story from Spanish news outlet AS released at the beginning of May claimed that Arsenal are close to beating Barcelona to the Spain international’s signature.
However, that hasn’t prevented Xavi from seemingly making one last attempt to tap up Martin Zubimendi in the media.
What’s the story?
Well, the 43-year-old has heaped praise on the Real Sociedad No.3 – who has a €60m (£52m) release clause written into his contract.
As quoted by Fabrizio Romano, Xavi said: “I consider Zubimendi as an an extraordinary pivot, top player. He understands the game very well, he dominates with and without the ball.
“Zubimendi plays the kind of football that we like here at Barça, it’s our style.”
Arsenal play a similar style to Barcelona under Mikel Arteta, so in that respect, the 24-year-old would also be a good fit for the Gunners.
Zubimendi may be a backup option for Arsenal
While the story from AS claims that Zubimendi is close to joining Arsenal, there have been conflicting reports from strong sources in England.
Specifically, The Times believe Arteta’s primary midfield targets are Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo, with those in the boardroom at the Emirates Stadium happy to spend up to £200m on both players.
That significant outlay is expected to be part-funded by the sales of Rob Holding, Granit Xhaka, Folarin Balogun and Emile Smith Rowe, with Kieran Tierney also set to leave for Newcastle.
Of course, Arsenal could end up signing Zubimendi in addition to Rice and Caicedo depending on what happens over the summer, with Mohamed Elneny someone who could certainly be upgraded on in the midfield department.
It looks set to be an exciting summer for the Gunners, so be sure to keep an eye on more developments.
The post "Extraordinary": Xavi praises £52m man who is close to joining Arsenal appeared first on HITC.
from HITC https://ift.tt/1G69MT0
No comments: