Manchester United have reportedly joined Arsenal in the race to sign Real Sociedad ace Martin Zubimendi this summer, as per the Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.
After impressing for the majority of this term, the Gunners have failed to keep their momentum going towards the business end of this season and as a consequence of that, they are on the verge of missing out on winning the league title to Manchester City.
It has been suggested that the Arsenal hierarchy are set to hand Mikel Arteta a mega £200m transfer fund to help him construct a squad that can challenge on all fronts from next season.
The Spanish boss has reportedly prioritised reinforcing the engine room this summer. Arsenal have already been linked with numerous options ahead of the transfer window with Zubimendi being mentioned as a serious target.
According to the report by Mundo Deportivo, Arsenal have been monitoring the 24-year-old’s development for a long time and they could finally make a summer swoop to strengthen the midfield department.
Battle
However, the report claims that signing the Spaniard won’t be easy for Arsenal as Man Utd have now also registered their interest in Zubimendi after being impressed by the midfielder’s displays during their clash against Real Sociedad in the Europa League group stage.
Mundo Deportivo also says that Zubimendi has a £53m release clause in his current contract and Arsenal or Man Utd will have to match that fee to lure the 24-year-old away from the Reale Arena as Real Sociedad don’t want to sell their star man for anything less than that sum.
It has been suggested that Erik ten Hag is keen on strengthening the United squad in the upcoming transfer window to continue the rebuild and midfield is an area that the Dutch boss wants to reinforce.
The Red Devils have been linked with numerous options over the last few months with Frenkie de Jong, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch being among them, but Zubimendi is now emerging as a target.
The Spaniard has established himself as an integral part of Imanol Alguacil’s starting eleven over the last few years, helping his side in qualifying for the Champions League next season.
He is technically sound, excellent in defensive contributions, good in the air and also reads the game extremely well. United need a new holding midfielder to support Casemiro and Zubimendi could be a shrewd signing if Man Utd manage to purchase him during the off-season.
However, it is going to be interesting to see whether Man Utd or Arsenal opt to formalise their interest in signing the Real Sociedad star to strengthen their engine room at the end of this season.
