It’s only happening slowly right now, but Martin Zubimendi’s situation at Arsenal is starting to get noticed in Spain. And that could spell trouble for the Gunners.
The 27-year-old has started this season sitting on the bench at the Emirates, pushed down the pecking order by the arrival of the likes of Bruno Guimaraes.
He is now, arguably, behind Declan Rice, Guimaraes, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Miles Lewis-Skelly in Mikel Arteta’s midfield plans. He’s not played more than 30 minutes in the Premier League this season and his only start has been against Ipswich in the Carabao Cup.
The situation is not much better for Spain either. He’s firmly behind Rodri in the pecking order, having spent the entire World Cup sat on the bench aside from 21 minutes in the final against Argentina.
Okay for now
That’s continued in this international break as he sat on the bench for the 3-2 win over England, before 72 minutes against Croatia. It’s already led to questions being asked. Questions he played down on Friday.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal – we all like to be key players; everyone has a bit of an ego and wants to play,” he admitted in an interview with RTVE.
“I’m not naive; I understand the context I’m in. I’m with the best national team in the world, with the best defensive midfielder in the world ahead of me,” he added – without explicitly naming Rodri.
He’s not willing to say the obvious, for now. But AS very much are. They say outright that Zubimendi ‘isn’t cut out for a supporting role’.
Arsenal role questioned
The newspaper insists that his ‘masterclass’ against Croatia was a ‘contradiction of his status as a substitute’ at Arsenal. Now they’re bringing the future into question.
In that game ‘the play flowed through his feet’ and he demonstrated how he’s a ‘special player’ who plays with ‘exquisite precision’. As far as they are concerned, it was ‘a masterclass in every sense’.
And that puts his position at Arsenal firmly into the spotlight. On the one hand it’s understandable given the competition but it makes less sense when considering his talent and stature.
In fact, performances such as this just ‘heighten the sense of injustice’ about his situation. Frankly his performances ‘warrant a higher status’.
So that’s left all signs points to the fact that Zubimendi cannot remain a benchwarmer for long. The reality is that while Arteta fights to keep him, his ‘footballing maturity’ demands that his importance be acknowledged.
There is already talks of a move to Chelsea or Real Madrid. They are gaining strength as the midfielder proves he is ‘no ordinary substitute’.
