Gerrard ‘disappointed’ that Liverpool didn’t beat Arsenal to £60m transfer | OneFootball

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard was “disappointed” that the Reds didn’t sign Martin Zubimendi ahead of Arsenal in the summer.

Zubimendi has produced a number of underwhelming performances for Arsenal in recent weeks after a largely impressive campaign since his £60m summer move from Real Sociedad.

The Spain international had been floated as one of the potential signings of the season but in recent weeks he has dropped off, although he did produce a good performance as Arsenal drew 1-1 against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League clash on Wednesday night.

Gary Neville highlighted the former Real Sociedad midfielder’s poor form after watching Zubimendi fail to dictate play in a 1-0 win over Newcastle United last weekend.

Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast: “I thought at the start of the season that Zubimendi was a great signing.

“He’s been a good player for Arsenal but right now I was expecting that this would be where Zubimendi would be the player. Who’s going to be the difference player?

“I thought [Viktor] Gyokeres would get the goals for them in the big moments and get to 2-0. His lack of quality at the end was poor on that counter-attack. He’s got to do better than that.

“But I thought… you think of what [Andrea] Pirlo is, or [Paul] Scholes or Rodri, Bernardo Silva – the player who can dictate play in a game like this, get Arsenal on the ball, organise and get them with authority and he [Zubimendi] is not demonstrating that.

“He’s struggling in the games and he has been for a few weeks now. [Martin] Odegaard does it better.

“Odegaard went deeper, but the problem is when Odegaard goes deeper, [Declan] Rice then goes deeper and Zubimendi is already deep. Then you’ve got three players, or certainly two in deep areas.

“You can’t have that. You want them to be rotating with each other, and you want one back there to link play with the defence and the full-backs.

“It felt to me today that Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard got outplayed by that Newcastle midfield.”

Gerrard: I was disappointed Liverpool didn’t sign him

But, ahead of Zubimendi’s solid display against Atletico Madrid in midweek, Gerrard revealed his disappointment that Liverpool failed to sign the Spaniard two years ago.

It had appeared that Liverpool had sewn up a deal to sign Zubimendi in the summer of 2024 before he unexpectedly made a U-turn and decided to stay in Spain.

Gerrard said on TNT Sports: “He’s been given a really key role.

“At Liverpool, we were linked with for a long time, watched a lot of him on the back of that – [I was] disappointed that we didn’t sign him on the back of that.

“Arsenal have got a fantastic player, really intelligent.

“I think he’ll have a big boost being back in Spain tonight, back where he’s from. Arsenal need a big performance from him tonight.

“[Antoine] Griezmann and [Julian] Alvarez like to come short so he’ll have to switch on, he’s going to have to be aware. At the same time, he’s got to connect Arsenal’s play. He’s got a pivotal role.”

Revealing the thought process behind staying at Sociedad in 2024, Zubimendi said on Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Singapore: “It wasn’t an easy time.

“I wanted to stay at Real Sociedad, but when offers come in, you start thinking about your options.

“The first question I had to answer was whether I wanted to leave – and it wasn’t the right time.

“I felt Real Sociedad offered me more opportunities and that I still had a lot to learn, so staying was the best decision.”