Stood on the side of the pitch after Arsenal’s 1-0 win on Sunday, Mikel Arteta issued a rallying cry.
Hopefully the people upstairs do their job, he essentially pleaded, urging the Kroenke’s to put their money where their mouth is and give the Gunners the tools to finally win the Premier League again after 20 long years. It was rather telling.
Josh Kroenke, Stan’s son, does at least seem on board, acknowledging in his programme notes for the Newcastle game that “investment” will be made to improve the playing squad.
Time will tell, of course, but there’s a lot to do this summer. That includes signing a striker, a winger, a new back-up goalkeeper and a midfielder too.
Proceedings look set to begin with the arrival of Martin Zubimendi.
Why Arsenal are signing Martin Zubimendi
Back in January reports emerged that Arsenal were working on a deal to bring the Real Sociedad midfielder to the Emirates Stadium.
After signing Mikel Merino from La Real last summer, the relationship between the two is clearly civil and that’s shone through here.
Still, it’s a surprise that the Spaniard has chosen Arsenal as his next destination. After all, it was Premier League title winners, Liverpool, who fought so hard to bring him to England a year ago.
Zubimendi reportedly turned down the Reds’ advances and despite interest from Real Madrid too, the Gunners look set to win the race.
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So, why are they signing him? Well, there’s two principal reasons; Thomas Partey and Jorginho are out of contract at the end of the season. The second is that Zubimendi is rather good at football and the third involves Declan Rice.
With Partey and Jorginho leaving it means Arsenal need a no.6 and in the Sociedad star, they will be signing one of the best in that position in the world.
In the words of data analyst Ben Mattinson, the Spaniard’s “ball temperament is better” than Partey’s, meaning that a combination of Zubimendi and Rice “could be special.”
The Spain international will never be someone to gallivant forward. He only ranks in the worst 14% of midfielders in LaLiga for shot-creating actions and the worst 44% for goals.
What he does do well is sit, dictate and evade the press. Zubimendi sits inside the top 20% in Spain’s top-flight for progressive passes, the best 9% for dribblers tackled and the best 13% for interceptions, rubber stamping his credentials to play at the base of Arsenal’s midfield.
As a consequence, it would free Rice up to play as an 8 on a more regular basis. As we saw during two Man of the Match displays against Real Madrid where he ran the show, he’s really rather good at that.
Yet, Arsenal did actually already have their own Zubimendi.
Arsenal’s very own Zubimendi is set to leave
This is due to be a summer of change in N5 with a batch of players hopefully set to be welcomed to the Emirates and another crop saying their farewells.
On Sunday, we saw Kieran Tierney given one final run out at Arsenal’s home stadium and it’s also likely to have been Jorginho’s final match in the club’s colours.
Indeed, having been brought on as a very late substitute and handed the captain’s armband, it looked like a goodbye from the Italian who is on the verge of moving to Brazil.
Jorginho’s £110k-per-week contract will soon expire and consequently, he has now “sealed” a deal to join Flamengo in time for the Club World Cup according to Fabrizio Romano.
The former Chelsea midfielder has enjoyed a great time of it at Arsenal. Initially the fanbase couldn’t get their heads around why they were signing him but he quickly proved everyone wrong. He’s one of the most consistent and reliable players we’ve seen at the Emirates during its near two decades of existence.
A tempo setter, few have been better in that regard over the last few years. Indeed, during 2022/23, only Rodri made more passes (2,831) in the Premier League than Jorginho (2,404) when compared to Moises Caicedo, Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraes and Declan Rice.
1. Rodri
2,831
2. Jorginho
2,404
3. Moises Caicedo
2,130
4. Declan Rice
1,974
5. Bruno Guimaraes
1,578
6. Casemiro
1,353
At dictating play, Jorginho is one of the best we’ve seen in recent years in the English top-flight.
It’s for that reason that similarities to Zubimendi emerge. Described as an “elite tempo controller” by the aforementioned Mattinson he’s already suggested that the Spain star is a “deep-lying playmaker like Jorginho”.
As a result, there really does feel like there is no one better suited in Europe’s top leagues for replacing the qualities that the Champions League and Euros winner brought so successfully to Arsenal for a couple of years.
It’s reported that Zubimendi will cost around £51m to bring to England but that certainly feels like money well spent. Arsenal need a midfielder and they need someone to give Rice more freedom in attack. This is the signing that allows that to happen.
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