Transfer insider tips Arsenal to lose Arteta starter to Real Madrid in triple exit | OneFootball

Journalist Alex Crook insists he “wouldn’t rule out” Martin Zubimendi leaving Arsenal to sign for Real Madrid before the transfer deadline.

The Gunners had an incredible 2025/26 season which saw them crowned Premier League champions and reach the final of the Champions League.

Arsenal have been looking to add quality over quantity this summer as they look to improve their title-winning squad from last term.

Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle and Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge have been the standout additions so far with Arsenal concentrating on an attacking addition before the deadline.

With new signings comes departures, and several players could be heading for the exit door before the window shuts, including a potential surprise name.

Zubimendi, who was good for Arsenal until the final couple of months of season, has been linked with a move to Real Madrid over the past week after they missed out on Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who is heading to Barcelona.

And talkSPORT transfer insider Alex Crook thinks Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus are likely players on the transfer list, while he has tipped Zubimendi as a potential late departee to Real Madrid.

Crook said on talkSPORT: “They need to sell somebody, if you look at the absentees from the squad [in the Community Shield] – no Gabriel Martinelli, no Gabriel Jesus…

“They’re in this luxurious position where they’ve got at least two players for every position, they’ve almost got too many players.

“I wouldn’t rule out Zubimendi going to Real Madrid.”

European football journalist Andy Brassell thinks Arsenal should be keeping Zubimendi around this coming season despite his drop off in performances towards the end of his debut campaign.

Brassell said on talkSPORT earlier this month: “I think he could still be a success in the Premier League.

“I think with the amount of games that Arsenal are still hoping to play this coming season and the amount of games you’d expect Arsenal to play in this coming season, they shouldn’t be ushering him out the door.

“They should be holding on to him because we’ve seen that he’s a top-level player.

“He’s a trusted Rodri replacement for the national team. He’s done that well in successive finals in Euro 2024 and in World Cup 2026.

“So I think it would be very short-sighted, especially when you look at the physical condition that Declan Rice finished the World Cup in. I think it’d be really short-sighted for Arsenal to get rid of him now.”

On where Zubimendi could end up, Brassell added: “With that said if they are going to get rid of him I feel that I wouldn’t get rid of him to Chelsea because there would be huge potential for that to bite them on the backside.

“Real Madrid I think makes a lot of sense for the reasons that you’ve outlined [a return to Spain] or the fact that they’ve missed out on the aforementioned Rodri or they look like missing out on the aforementioned Rodri.

“I think he would add a lot to [Jose] Mourinho’s Real Madrid because I think if you look at Mourinho teams in the last few years over the last couple of cycles, you look at Benfica, you look at Fenerbahce, you look at Roma.

“If I could have changed anything about most of those teams, I think: ‘can we have a little bit more mobility in midfield, please?’ And that’s what Zubimendi is really good at.

“He’s not just a holder who stays. He’s someone who’s really good at bringing the ball out, really mobile.

“And you think if they’re going to get to a point where they play Aurelien Tchouameni either as a third centre-back or just one of two centre-backs, which is a possibility or whether you’re going to have him next to Zubimendi.

“Zubimendi works in either of those places, I think, and to have someone who would do that to allow Jude Bellingham the ability to really make those late runs into the penalty box. I think he’d be really good for them.

“Of course, the other connection is he’s a Real Sociedad guy just like Xabi Alonso.

“So Xabi Alonso is more than aware of him, but I just don’t see Arsenal sanctioning that.

“Especially as they know he’s a player who has had a tough time rather than a player who’s not good enough, so Real Madrid makes the best sense for me, but I think Arsenal should hang onto him.”