One of the most interesting transfer sagas of the ongoing transfer window is one that never actually started. Martin Zubimendi has been hot property for many European clubs across the top 5 leagues for some time now. Especially during the last 1-2 years, his name has been talked about a lot. This would mean that a big-money move to a Champion League club is just around the corner right? Wrong.
Martin Zubimendi seems to love his boyhood club much more than titles and silverware. While the Loyalty towards Real Sociedad is truly a commendable quality, it is disheartening knowing that as long as he is playing for that 4th Spot in La Liga, his career graph would always remain stagnated. Martin Zubimendi could be so much more than a Club Legend.
After Sergio Busquets left FC Barcelona at the end of the 2022-23 season, Zubimendi was Barcelona’s priority target for quite some time. But for the Canterra Academy product, moving away from the Basque countryside was never an option. Barcelona tried their best to get Zubimendi to join their squad but to no avail.
Now, a year later, with a freshly won European Championship to his name, Martin Zubimendi became a hot topic for Liverpool FC. With Fabinho and Henderson, both parting their ways with the scouse club in the recent past, the only midfield position where Liverpool finds themselves lacking is Defensive Midfield. While Endo has been a revelation for them last year, he is nowhere close to Zubimendi’s level.
Barcelona and Liverpool are not the only clubs who have been rejected by Zubimendi in recent years. The 25-year-old has reportedly rejected Bayern and Arsenal too.
In the Spain National Team, Martin Zubimendi is behind the pecking order at his favoured position coming second best to Rodri. The Manchester City midfielder is a generational player for Spain and most probably their future captain. Staying at Real Sociedad doesn’t help Martin Zubimendi’s cause one bit. Rodri will always be ahead in the pecking order.
If Zubimendi has to have any chance of forcing his way into La Roja’s Starting XI, he must find a bigger challenge and rise up to it. FC Barcelona, Bayern, Arsenal and Liverpool were supposed to be exactly these big challenges. But now, with Zubimendi choosing to stay at Real Sociedad, the train of moving to a bigger club might’ve passed the station.
Zubimendi chooses a Stagnant Yet Loyal Career over Growth
Martin Zubimendi’s case is similar to that of Marco Reus, both are loyal to the club of their lives. But there is a slight difference, Marco Reus never let that fact stagnate his own career. He went on to be a big part of Germany’s set-up and even won numerous titles with Dortmund. But the Real Sociedad player is already 25 years of age and in his athletic prime. Yet he has only a solitary Copa Del Rey to show for it that he won with Real Sociedad 4 years ago.
It’s very difficult to win trophies in Spain as it is with Real, Barcelona and Atleti around the corner. But a move to Liverpool would’ve made Zubimendi a contender to win a lot of silverware with the scouse club. At the same time, Zubimendi would be directly competing against his biggest competitor in the National Setup, Rodri, in the Premier League. But instead, with reports emerging about a potential deal extension being penned down between Zubimendi and La Real, Martin Zubimendi has chosen to walk down a stagnant, yet loyal path in his career.
