How Arsenal feel about doing a late deal with Chelsea for Martin Zubimendi

Arsenal have bolstered their midfield this summer with the signing of Bruno Guimaraes.

For Mikel Arteta to be willing to spend £75million on the Brazilian raised questions over both Myles Lewis-Skelly and Martin Zubimendi.

Zubimendi was signed last summer from Real Sociedad and immediately became a key player.

The Spaniard was the only Arsenal player to feature in every single Premier League game last season.

However, towards the end of the season — during the crucial title run-in — Zubimendi lost his spot in the starting XI to Lewis-Skelly.

And the 19-year-old has kept his place at the start of this season too, with Guimaraes picking up a knock.

That leaves a cloud over Zubimendi, who has been loosely linked with a switch to Real Madrid, who wanted to sign him before Arsenal wrapped a deal up.

But another team who have been circling is Chelsea, who are now managed by the man who tried to lure him to Madrid in the first place, Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea are in the market for a midfielder to prepare for Enzo Fernandez’s anticipated exit to Manchester City, and Alonso — a close friend of Arteta — is a big fan of Zubimendi.

It has now been revealed whether Arsenal would be willing to entertain a sale before Tuesday’s deadline.

Arsenal are reluctant to sell Martin Zubimendi to Chelsea

According to Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian, Arsenal are said to be reluctant to sell Zubimendi to Chelsea.

That doesn’t completely rule out a sale, but it would probably take quite a significant bid for the Gunners to sanction a sale.

They would surely want more than the £55million they paid to sign him last summer. Especially when it’s to a direct London rival, and possibly their title challengers.

Arteta now has genuinely elite midfield depth at his disposal, akin to that of Pep Guardiola’s time at Manchester City.

Having the ability to rotate Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Guimaraes, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino will go a long way towards winning silverware.

On paper, Zubimendi is fourth in that pecking order right now, but he will still get plenty of gametime if Arsenal are to compete on all four fronts again.

And if the fitness of both Ben White and Jurrien Timber continues to be an issue, Zubimendi could be an interesting solution at right-back if Arteta wants to prioritise having lots of technical quality on the pitch.

Arsenal are right to be reluctant to let Zubimendi go, especially this late in the window — and especially to Chelsea.