Barcelona see Arsenal as ‘serious competition’ for Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi this summer.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who insist Arsenal have already made a proposal to the highly-rated Spanish midfielder.
The newspaper reports that Zubimendi heads up Barcelona’s wishlist to reinforce their midfield, with the club determined to add a defensive midfielder and finally replace Sergio Busquets.
His representative has already been to the club’s offices to meet Deco, their sporting director, which was the culmination of other little meetings between the pair.
They know there is serious competition for him, though, with the player also receiving persistent interest from Arsenal and Juventus, who are waiting to see what develops.
They, like Barcelona, would have to pay the midfielder’s €60m release clause to get him out of Real Sociedad and whether they would be willing to do so remains to be seen.
Zubimendi is in no rush to leave either and would be happy to stay with La Real, so Arsenal, Juventus and Barcelona have work to do on that front too.
The interest is absolutely there, though, and the Gunners are seen as a serious obstacle for Barcelona to negotiate around if they want to secure the midfielder’s signature this summer.
