Steven Gerrard admits he was left ‘dissatisfied’ when Arsenal won the race to sign Martin Zubimendi after the midfielder was heavily linked with Liverpool.
Zubimendi accomplished £60million move from Real Sociedad to Arsenal in the summertime transfer window, with weighty expectations placed on the 27-year-old given the dimensions of the fee and his stellar status in Spain.
After arriving on the Emirates, Zubimendi quickly settled into life in English football and was held up as certainly one of the potential signings of the season during a powerful begin to his Arsenal profession.
Nevertheless, a few of Zubimendi’s recent performances have been called into query during what has been a difficult spell for Mikel Arteta’s side, whose imperious lead at the highest of the Premier League table now stands at just three points.
The Gunners’ quadruple ambitions also went up in smoke because of back-to-back defeats within the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
Nevertheless, the north Londoners’ Champions League hopes remain intact – and Zubimendi held his own while back in his homeland on Wednesday night as Arteta’s men drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid on the Metropolitano.
Speaking ahead of the semi-final first leg, ex-Manchester United defender Gary Neville was amongst those to voice their concerns over Zubimendi’s recent form in an Arsenal shirt.
‘I believed initially of the season that Zubimendi was an incredible signing,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.
‘He’s been a superb player for Arsenal but right away I used to be expecting that this might be where Zubimendi can be the player. Who’s going to be the difference player?
‘I believed [Viktor] Gyokeres would get the goals for them in the massive moments and get to 2-0. His lack of quality at the tip was poor on that counter-attack. He’s got to do higher than that.
‘But I believed… you’re thinking that of what [Andrea] Pirlo is, or [Paul] Scholes or Rodri, Bernardo Silva – the player who can dictate play in a game like this, get Arsenal on the ball, organise and get them with authority and he [Zubimendi] isn’t demonstrating that.
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‘He’s struggling within the games and he has been for a couple of weeks now. [Martin] Odegaard does it higher.
‘Odegaard went deeper, but the issue is when Odegaard goes deeper, [Declan] Rice then goes deeper and Zubimendi is already deep. You then’ve got three players, or definitely two in deep areas.
‘You may’t have that. You wish them to be rotating with one another, and you wish one back there to link play with the defence and the full-backs.
‘It felt to me today that Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard got outplayed by that Newcastle midfield.’
Neville’s former England team-mate Gerrard stays a believer in Zubimendi’s qualities, though, convinced Arsenal have gotten their hands on a ‘really intelligent’ player at the bottom of their midfield.
Two years ago, Gerrard’s beloved Liverpool had appeared on the cusp on a deal for Zubimendi, just for the Spain international to tug the plug on a proposed move to stick with Real Sociedad.
‘He’s been given a extremely key role,’ Gerrard said on TNT Sports ahead of Arsenal’s draw with Atleti, just moments before kick-off.
‘At Liverpool, we were linked with for a very long time, watched quite a lot of him on the back of that – [I was] dissatisfied that we didn’t sign him on the back of that.
‘Arsenal have gotten a incredible player, really intelligent.
‘I believe he’ll have an enormous boost being back in Spain tonight, back where he’s from. Arsenal need an enormous performance from him tonight.
‘[Antoine] Griezmann and [Julian] Alvarez like to return short so he’ll have to modify on, he’s going to should bear in mind. At the identical time, he’s got to attach Arsenal’s play. He’s got a pivotal role.’
Zubimendi has made no secret of just how close he got here to signing for Liverpool a yr prior to joining Arsenal.
The Merseyside giants had been in advanced discussions with Real Sociedad to get a deal over the road, but were ultimately left dissatisfied because the midfielder didn’t feel it was ‘the precise time’ in his profession.
‘It wasn’t a simple time,’ the Euro 2024 winner explained while on Arsenal’s pre-season trip to Singapore last summer.
‘I desired to stay at Real Sociedad, but when offers are available, you begin fascinated with your options.
‘The primary query I had to reply was whether I wanted to depart – and it wasn’t the precise time.
‘I felt Real Sociedad offered me more opportunities and that I still had rather a lot to learn, so staying was the perfect decision.’
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