Martín Zubimendi belongs to Real Sociedad. The Spanish midfielder has always been clear that he does not want to leave San Sebastian. He is very happy with the team and has a project in which he believes, so it seems to be the final goodbye to all the clubs that wanted to sign him this summer. This is a relief for Imanol Alguacil's team, who saw Robin Le Normand leave and still run the risk of losing Mikel Merino and Takefusa Kubo.
At 25 years old, the Euro 2024 champion is considered one of the best pivots in Europe. He is a key player in Alguacil's scheme and indispensable for Luis de la Fuente, so it is not surprising that the best clubs were after him. Recently, the most interested was Liverpool, but he was also on the agenda of FC Barcelona and Arsenal.
In the case of the culé team, they always saw Nico Williams as an option, in case the Navarrese transfer fell through. At Anoeta they were asking for 60 million euros for his transfer, an amount that was not affordable for the Blaugrana board, but that they could consider paying with the money that was destined for the Athletic player. Now, it seems that they will be left without both and will have to evaluate other options.
Real Sociedad's plan to retain Zubimendi
For Zubimendi, the option has always been to stay at Real, as he stated in June: "I can't tell you, I haven't thought about it. I feel very loved, by the people I love and, for the moment, I see it far away. We value what we do at home a lot, we feel represented and I am a part of this project and it is a shame to leave him."
Based on everything that has happened in recent weeks, the San Sebastian team is tired of suffering and is committed to protecting its 'star'. According to information from 'SPORT', the board is already working on a review of his contract to prevent other teams from trying to get him out of Anoeta. In his current contract, the player has a 60 million euro release clause, a high figure but not enough to keep the best teams in the world away.
Therefore, it is important to highlight that if Zubimendi remains at Real it is because he has wanted to. The 'txuri-urdin' team has been called by teams with enough capital to undertake the operation and pay even more than the sixty million he is worth. To reward his loyalty, they will make him one of the highest paid players in the squad and will seek to increase both the duration of his contract and his release clause. Nothing is certain yet, but the team will try to tie him down until 2030 or 2031, taking into account that his current commitment expires on June 30, 2027.