Man City ‘ready to trigger £50m release clause’ of dream Arsenal signing
Massive blow for the Gunners.
Manchester City are ‘ready to trigger the £50m release clause’ of dream Arsenal signing Martin Zubimendi, according to reports.
The Gunners have long been linked to the 25-year-old midfielder, who plays for Real Sociedad in La Liga as well as the Spain national team.
But Arsenal could now be set to miss out on Zubimendi’s signature to Premier League title rivals City, the London Standard have reported.
The outlet claims that City have stepped up their attempts to sign players in the upcoming January transfer window to boost their struggling season.
Pep Guardiola confirmed after the 1-1 Boxing Day draw against Everton that he will try to strengthen City’s underperforming squad this winter.
The City manager said: ‘Even the players [think]: ‘Oh, we have to add some players,’ but the truth is, this season we have a lot [of problems]. And this is a problem.
‘[But] I think it’s not to bring a player for that [the short term]. You have to bring a player for the next three, four, or five years.
‘And this is sometimes not easy to do. But, of course, I think we have to try it because [the situation] has been sustained for a long time.’
News of City being ready to trigger Zubimendi’s release clause comes despite Real Sociedad’s director of football Roberto Olabe not expecting any ‘scares’ over the player in January.
‘There is little peace about the clauses, but in all this time Martín himself has shown us that above the clauses there are the wills,’ Olabe said via Marca earlier this month. ‘I do not foresee that we will have any scares in January.’
Meanwhile, it was previously reported that City were not ‘expecting’ to sign Zubimendi in the January transfer window.
Zubimendi, who rejected a switch to Liverpool last summer, has been with Spanish club Real Sociedad for his entire career, having progressed through the club’s youth academy.
He has played 209 matches for Real Sociedad across all competitions to date, while he has earned 15 international caps for Spain.
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