“I’m led to believe…” – Sky reporter outlines new theory on why Zubimendi snubbed Liverpool

Where Liverpool are about to succeed with Florian Wirtz this month, they fell short with Martin Zubimendi last summer.

Cast your mind back to August, when it looked for all the world that the Spanish midfielder was signing for the Reds, only to instead decide that he’d rather remain at Real Sociedad.

The 26-year-old is likely to come to the Premier League this year, but it’s Arsenal who are set to land him rather than the Merseysiders, with a move to north London regarded as ‘done and signed’ (The Athletic).

Arsenal interference contributed to Zubimendi rejecting Liverpool

Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth has now explained that the Gunners had initially expressed an interest in Zubimendi last summer, and that ultimately contributed to the Spain international reneging on a proposed deal to join Liverpool.

Speaking on the Transfer Talk podcast, the journalist said: “This transfer goes back to last summer though, because he was very, very close to joining Liverpool. Everything was agreed with Liverpool only for him to change his mind.

“Now it’s always very, very difficult for players from the Basque region to leave those football clubs, because they are so tightly wedded to those football clubs, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad.

“The information I have is that, aside from the links with and the loyalty he has with Real Sociedad, there was an Arsenal implication in here as well. I’m led to believe that Arsenal actually made their interest clear to Zubimendi last summer, and they couldn’t do the deal last summer because they had Thomas Partey and they had Jorginho.”

“They knew the following summer, at least one of those two players was going to be leaving the football club. So it’s proved so far – Jorginho is gone and Thomas Partey is still in talks over a new contract. Arsenal do want him to stay. However, that’s the reason possibly that they couldn’t do that deal last summer, but I think Zubimendi’s head was turned enough.”

Zubimendi snub was a blessing in disguise for Liverpool

When Zubimendi rejected Liverpool with less than week remaining before the start of the 2024/25 Premier League, it felt like a hammer blow for the Reds at the time, as Richard Hughes had yet to bring in any new signings by the second week of August in his first transfer window as sporting director at Anfield.

Instead, Arne Slot gave Ryan Gravenberch a new lease of life in the number 6 role alongside Alexis Mac Allister, and the Merseysiders never looked back as both men in that midfield partnership excelled consistently in helping LFC to win the top-flight title with four matches to spare.

If Liverpool had signed the Spaniard, would he have fitted into the head coach’s system as seamlessly as the aforementioned duo? Could our number 38 – who in 12 months went from being a sporadic starter under Jurgen Klopp to the Premier League Young Player of the Season – have even left the club, amid reported interest from Galatasaray?

It still rankles to an extent that Zubimendi backed out of a move to the Reds after everything seemed to have been agreed, all the more so if indeed Arsenal’s interference ultimately turned his head.

However, when considering how things have transpired in the meantime, Kopites needn’t have any regrets that the 26-year-old isn’t an LFC player. Gravenberch and Mac Allister have set the bar for him to try and emulate in the English top flight next term!

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