Welcome to a brand new week.
Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but yesterday was anything but. Firstly, Arsenal officially confirmed the signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad. Events over the last few days meant the plan to do it last week had to be pushed back, but as we learned from the ‘How it all happened’ pieces, this deal was fully agreed back in March, so another few days made no real difference.
As I’ve said throughout, I think the fact we’ve all known it was going to happen for so long has taken some of the shine off the arrival of what is a very, very good player. Liverpool, Man City and Real Madrid all wanted him, and that tells you something about his quality. He’s 26, in his prime, and he’ll be a fantastic addition to the Arsenal midfield. He’s chosen the number 36, which is the first number he had when he broke through at Real Sociedad in case anyone is interested in the significance of that.
Speaking to the official site, he said:
It’s a very important moment in my career. The step I was looking for, that I wanted to take. It’s true that it’s already been 15 years in my previous team, in Real Sociedad, and obviously it’s a huge change, but I’m looking forward to it.
I think that in sporting terms, I fit in very well with the style. It’s a young team, with a lot of passion and ambition. They’ve been showing it in recent years, and I think the next few years will be the best. I want to contribute as much as I can from the pitch. I want to be competitive and help the team with all my qualities. As a team, it’s clear that trophies often determine the season.
‘Trophies often determine the season’, feels so relevant to this summer and what lies ahead. There is expectation now, there is also some pressure to ensure that this current iteration of Arsenal enjoys tangible success. I don’t think anyone can legitimately argue that we’re not a good team, we absolutely are. We’re light years ahead of where we were even a few years ago, but to copper-fasten that, they need silverware. Zubimendi is part of achieving that plan, someone who can bring different qualities to our midfield, and I’m really looking forward to seeing him play for us.
For more on the player himself and what he brings, you can read Phil’s profile piece here, and for Patreon subscribers, we discuss him in a new player podcast here. You can sign up for just $6 a month (+VAT where applicable).
Then, as that was happening, a story broke in the Swedish press about developments in the pursuit of Viktor Gyokeres. Arsenal were said to have made a breakthrough with Sporting, having already agreed personal terms with the player. Not long after that we got an OrnBomb:
So, it looks like the decision over which striker we’re going to sign has been made. I don’t know this for sure, and no doubt it will all come out when the behind the scenes stories that accompany every transfer these days are published, but I feel like Benjamin Sesko was the first choice, but RB Leipzig have made it very difficult on the financial front and we’ve said ‘Ok, we’ll go with the other big guy’. He’s been pushing for the move, he wants to join, and he’s available – even if Sporting have been, for him at least, a bit difficult about certain aspects of it all.
I think I’ve been on the record as being a bit more pro Sesko than Gyokeres, mostly because of the potential the former might have to develop in the years ahead, but then I go back to what Zubimendi said about trophies, the need to ‘win now’, and the Swedish international makes sense in that regard. He just turned 27 last month, he’s got loads of experience (including some in England albeit it at a much lower level – check this clip of Ben White providing him an assist for Brighton’s Premier League 2 team!), and he certainly knows where the goal is.
Like a lot of people, I worry a bit about the pathway from the Portuguese league to the Premier League, and I don’t think there’s any chance he can replicate the kind of goalscoring output he’s had for Sporting. Which, by the way, is an incredible 97 goals in 102 appearances in all competitions. However, do we need that from him? Last season we had the best defensive record in the Premier League, but the reason Liverpool won the title was because they scored 17 more goals than we did. He can help bridge that gap, I have no doubts about that.
It’s not a one-man show either. He’ll play a big role, but if we sort our squad out with the right kind of depth to ensure we’re not playing people till their hamstrings explode, it’s reasonable to expect more from players like Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard (who was below his best in goalscoring terms last season), and others. I think the fact the focus all summer has basically been on two individuals tells you a little something about what’s on the market, but ultimately I’m glad we appear to have come to a decision.
Pre-season is starting today, I think, and as much as possible you want everyone in and settled as quickly as you can. Dragging the striker thing on much longer would have been far from ideal, so let’s get this one sorted and over the line with as little fuss as possible.
Right, I’ll leave it there. Plenty to get your teeth into today, and don’t forget we’ll have an Arsecast Extra for you a bit later. We’ve already put out the call for questions on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Pod should be out around noon. Until then, have a good one.
