How Arsenal responded to Chelsea summer transfer interest

With Manchester City pushing to sign Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea on transfer deadline day, the west London club went shopping for potential replacements.

Ben Jacobs reported for talkSPORT that Martin Zubimendi was among Chelsea’s targets, but their interest didn’t get them very far.

Gary Jacob reported for The Times that Arsenal intended to reject any Chelsea approach for Zubimendi, citing Mikel Arteta’s recent insistence that the midfielder wouldn’t leave.

Jacob confirmed in his report that Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso greatly admires Zubimendi, and that he also would have liked to sign the Arsenal midfielder when he was Real Madrid manager.

But Arsenal already had a deal in place at that time, and they had no interest in selling this time around.

It’s not hard to see why Chelsea would be interested in Zubimendi. Other than Alonso’s personal admiration, it was clear the Blues were after a top midfielder in Enzo’s absence, and Zubimendi had just featured in all 38 games of Arsenal’s Premier League-winning season in 2025/26.

Chelsea got to witness Zubimendi’s talents first-hand during that campaign, as he started all four games for the Gunners against their London rivals.

Arsenal won three, drawing the fourth, and Zubimendi scored an excellent goal at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup semi-final.

Arsenal have also added to their midfield options in recent months, with Myles Lewis-Skelly moving back into a midfield role, and Bruno Guimaraes joining from Newcastle United. Perhaps there was a sense Zubimendi might become available late in the window.

But the Spain international has featured in all three of Arsenal’s games so far, despite his late return to pre-season after the World Cup.

Arteta clearly still plans to use the 27-year-old this season, so Arsenal didn’t entertain any offers.