How would Martin Zubimendi fit in Arsenal’s midfield?

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While talk of Arsenal signing a striker has dominated press conferences, social media and the stands at the Emirates, the club knew that could not be the only order of business this summer.

That is why their long-standing interest in Martin Zubimendi saw them start actively pursuing a deal in January.

A holding midfielder may not be the shiniest of new toys, but as the closing weeks of the season have shown, Zubimendi could be just as valuable as a new centre-forward.

Arsenal’s search for a midfield three

Arsenal’s midfield has endured a couple of false starts since the departure of Granit Xhaka in 2023. 

Declan Rice and Kai Havertz arrived that summer, with the expectation they would complete a midfield three with Martin Odegaard. Havertz struggled to shine in midfield, and was soon moved to centre-forward, which saw the midfield evolve to include Thomas Partey at the base with Odegaard and Rice either side.

Even with Mikel Merino’s arrival last summer, that trio of Odegaard, Partey and Rice has still been Mikel Arteta’s most reliable. Rice has grown into a true box-to-box midfielder, which would naturally see Zubimendi slot in as a more deep-lying option.

With Partey turning 32 next month and out of contract, and Jorginho likely to join Flamengo, succession planning in that position has been essential. Equally important has been identifying a player who can bring more craft in that area of the pitch — a conductor. Thankfully for Arsenal, that is where the Spain international thrives.

Press resistance and passing tendencies

This is a role where subtlety, clarity and bravery is required, and Zubimendi has all three.

The Athletic highlighted Arsenal’s need for a press-resistant No 6 after their 1-0 win over Newcastle United and Zubimendi has the awareness to pass this test.

Zubimendi has 17 Spain caps and was more of a squad option in Euro 2024, starting just once. Since the anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered by Rodri, he has started six of their eight Nations League games this season.

A good example of him helping Spain tick came in a 2-1 away win against Denmark in November.

Here, he receives the ball with three Danes pressuring him, but has the technique and calm to evade their challenges and recycle the ball.

For Arsenal, that could help free up the right-sided players more by attracting bodies towards the centre of the pitch.

He shows more personality in midfield for Real Sociedad than for Spain. His touches away from pressure can often be surprising in their flair.

In the example below, he does a first-time, left-footed flick over an opponent’s head before bringing the ball down on his thigh and finding Takefusa Kubo on the right.

Kubo drove down the wing and found Mikel Oyazarbal with his cross, showing how that moment in midfield led to an opening for La Real.

Zubimendi can also do the unexpected in deeper areas.

Against Valencia, the ball is played from the left. With pressure coming, he lets the ball run before backheeling it safely to a centre-back.

Once again, La Real release the pressure to their right side to find Kubo. Arsenal missed their right-sided attacking connections this season, so Zubimendi already playing in a team that caters to that could help Arsenal revive theirs.

Key to that will be those players receiving the ball in space, and that is where another aspect of Zubimendi’s midfield play could be critical. He tends to play a lot of short passes, which helps to draw opposition midfielders towards him and away from his team-mates.

Below is an example of how this worked against Leganes.

His first pass draws the opposition out, and his second progresses the play. Both are made with his first touch.

This demonstrates how effective quick, sharp passes can be in these areas to outmanoeuvre tricky defences — an issue Arsenal have had for the past two seasons. In the above example, Kubo did not have the explosiveness to break away and was fouled, but Arsenal have players who can create that separation in Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and Odegaard.

Looking at where Zubimendi has received his passes this season, the 26-year-old is always on hand to help keep the ball under pressure and move forward.

Drifting out to both flanks, always looking to provide an option in congested midfield battles, and happy to throw himself into dangerous situations close to his own goal, it’s little wonder he leads the way for touches, passes and carries for his team this season.

He brings balance to his side’s build-up in attack and provides a constant escape route to ensure there is always an overload in Real Sociedad’s favour.

What about his defensive work?

Without the ball, Zubimendi is much more of an anticipatory defender, prioritising good positioning, interceptions and and sweeping up loose balls rather than barging into challenges. Still, he can hold his own in more physical defensive duels.

The chart below illustrates key stylistic metrics. Compared to his midfield counterparts in La Liga, Zubimendi engages in relatively few ‘true’ tackle attempts — a combination of tackles won, lost, and fouls committed when attempting a tackle. When he does, however, only three midfielders have a better success rate than his 66.4 per cent.

Instead, Zubimendi ranks more highly in ‘passive’ defensive actions, letting the ball come to him rather than aggressively moving out of position to seek it out. His rate of ‘true’ interceptions — a combination of interceptions and blocked passes — is high, while only Mallorca’s Samu Costa has made more clearances.

He’s an effective sweeper, guarding the space in front of his centre-backs, but can muck in with a strong challenge or an aerial duel when required.

The below example against Valencia brings together multiple facets of Zubimendi’s game.

First, he scraps for the loose ball and nicks in ahead of Hugo Guillamon with opposition players lurking behind. He then pokes the ball out to full-back Javi Lopez, before pulling out to the flank to offer a passing option. The ball goes back to Zubimendi in frame four, who holds off the challenge of opposition winger and plays a simple pass into defence.

By not only preventing a dangerous opportunity, but allowing his team control of the ball, Zubimendi’s mix of scrappy defensive play and assured ball retention helps the home side out of a tricky spot.

What is his output like?

Zubimendi is not being signed for his goals and assists. In 236 games for Real Sociedad, he has 10 goals and nine assists. Even so, it could be interesting to see situations that could be replicated at Arsenal.

To do this, we’ll look at two of his assists. The first is from the 2023-24 season, against Athletic Club. 

The ball is dropping and an Athletic player attempts a speculative pass through midfield. Zubimendi is in his natural position and cuts the pass out. He then plays a left-footed pass in behind for Oyazarbal, who rounds the keeper to score.

It seems simple enough, but Arsenal have not made enough of moments like that this season.

In 2022-23, Zubimendi provided a completely different assist against Girona. 

Girona were 2-1 up, trying to hold onto their lead in the minutes before half-time with a deep block.

As the ball comes to Zubimendi outside the box, he is already looking for potential passing options. He sees Alexander Sorloth at the back post and clips a perfectly weighted ball over the back line for the striker to chest and volley in.

Arsenal have a few ways of breaking down low blocks, but adding another player with that vision and delivery in those situations can only help.

Though a forward is the priority for Arsenal this summer, getting their midfield in order first could be a good base on which to build.

(Top photo: Dennis Agyeman/Europa Press via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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