The Gunners toiled to a 2-0 win over a struggling Leicester City at the weekend, with Mikel Merino popping up with two late goals off the bench to rescue three points late on. The Basque midfielder was sent on to play up front, with Arsenal facing a torrid injury crisis.<\/p>\n
Kai Havertz has been ruled out for the season after hamstring surgery, with Bukayo Saka only just back in training after suffering the same fate. Gabriel Jesus is also sidelined for the rest of the campaign with an ACL injury.<\/p>\n
Arsenal are already making moves for the summer, with an agreement reached<\/p>\n
Arsenal opted not to bring a new forward to the Emirates Stadium over the January transfer window, with numbers already thin on the ground. The gamble seemed not to have paid off with injuries to Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli in quick succession \u2013 and manager Mikel Arteta\u2019s squad could yet shrink further this summer.<\/p>\n
Supporters weren\u2019t the only ones to rave about the teenager\u2019s contribution, as Arteta called the defender\u2019s clearance \u2018amazing\u2019, highlighting it as a game-changing moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be fair, on the bench, I didn\u2019t know whether he touched it or not, or it was a deflection from the cross,\u201d Arteta told the media in his post-match press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I watched it back in the dressing room, it was amazing, because it was one of the moments that could change the game and probably the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arsenal have apparently made their first steps to replacing some of the stars exiting, however. According to a somewhat contradictory report from TEAMtalk, a four-year contract has been \u201cagreed\u201d with Martin Zubimendi.<\/p>\n
The Basque no.6, ranked at no.8 in FourFourTwo\u2019s list of the best defensive midfielders in the world right now, is heavily linked with the North Londoners after The Mail journalist Sami Mokbel broke the exclusive last month that a transfer was \u201cvirtually complete\u201d. Liverpool and Manchester City were both named as having been \u201cbeaten\u201d in the race.<\/p>\n
An Anfield move was turned down in the summer by Zubimendi, though transfer expert Ben Jacobs told FourFourTwo on January 13, that Liverpool, \u201cdon\u2019t feel that Zubimendi rejected Liverpool or the project so much as chose to stay at Real Sociedad\u201d. City have since signed Nico Gonzalez as a replacement no.6 for 2024 Ballon d\u2019Or winner Rodri, suggesting they\u2019ve admitted defeat in the race for Zubimendi.<\/p>\n
The latest report states, however, that while Arsenal are looking to \u201cdouble\u201d Zubimendi\u2019s wages, the supposedly \u201cagreed\u2019 deal is still not finalised \u2013 with the 26-year-old \u201ccautious\u201d over the move. The Athletic says \u201cthat there are growing conversations behind the scenes at Real Madrid\u201d over a move for the Euro 2024 winner.<\/p>\n
FourFourTwo understands that though this deal between Arsenal and Zubimendi is in advanced stages, nothing has been agreed or completed \u2013 and that leaves the Gunners in a perilous position.<\/p>\n
While sources and reports say they \u201cexpect\u201d Zubimendi to go to the Emirates Stadium, a lot could change between now and the transfer window reopening, with Real Madrid\u2019s interest potentially throwing a spanner in the works.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t be a shock if the European champions were to hijack this move \u2013 despite how close it looks with Arsenal. Barcelona have previously been credited with an interest in Zubimendi, too, while Liverpool\u2019s refusal to sign a Plan B after missing out on Zubimendi last summer suggests that they will still harbour an interest so long as he is available.<\/p>\n
The midfielder is worth \u20ac60 million, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal take on West Ham United next weekend when Premier League action returns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arsenal appear to have struck a four-year deal for their first signing of the summer. The Gunners to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"yoast_head":"\n