It was the kind of night that makes change feel cinematic. Warm air, skyline lights and mysterious cocktails amid a sea of shiny new football shirts.
Arsenal’s away kit launch at Singapore’s NOVA Rooftop had the fanfare of a global brand, but for one man, it marked something quieter, deeper: The end of a long wait.
“I think I’ve found the right one,” says Martin Zubimendi, referencing not his refreshing bottle of water but Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose name he speaks with quiet conviction. “When I finally knew I wanted to leave Real, I wanted a quality coach and I think I’ve found one of the best in Europe.”
Zubimendi is not prone to hyperbole. He resisted Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool. He waited. For the right club. For the right time. For a manager who spoke to his footballing soul.
He found all three in Arsenal.
In a world of frantic deals and last-minute hijacks, the transfer that brought Zubimendi to north London was remarkable for its patience and precision. It began a year ago, when Arsenal quietly struck a two-part deal with Real Sociedad: Mikel Merino would arrive in 2024; Zubimendi would follow in 2025.
It was not a package deal in name as both had distinct release clauses but it was, in the words of Arteta, “a really well-orchestrated plan.
“Everyone involved had to understand how we could get what we wanted in two different years, but at the same time. Both players were very keen to come, which is very necessary. I think we had a global understanding of the situation, and they’ve been excellent dealing with that. We’ve done what we wanted, and I think the players have and Real Sociedad too.”
It also gave Arsenal something even rarer: Certainty (of a sort). That delicate timeline came under threat when the second part of the deal, Zubimendi, came under pressure from Europe’s elite.
Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool all would have loved to hijack the move. But Arteta stayed confident.
“There’s always a moment I’m not involved, and probably they don’t tell me when it gets really, really difficult,” he admitted. “But especially when you feel that we are convinced, then we get that from the players too. If the agent is giving you the same impression, you are more likely to get the deal over the line. When one of those three parts are a bit off, things can get complicated. In this case, I was always very, very positive.”
Zubimendi himself had been clear about what he wanted. Big clubs had come calling, but none had the timing, or the project, that felt right.
“It wasn’t an easy time because initially I was thinking about staying at Real,” he said. “But when important offers came up I would think about new things. The first question I had to answer was whether I wanted to stay at Real. It wasn’t the right time; I saw that Real was still a step forward for me and the things I had to give were important. So the best thing for me was to stay at Real.”
That was in 2024. Now, a year on, he’s an Arsenal player and has been immediately impressed by the environment he’s walked into.
“Signing for Arsenal is a big change for me. It’s the change I wanted,” he said. “And since the first day I’ve been here I’ve noticed the greatness of this club and I’m adapting.”
Signing so early this summer and with old club and country team-mate Merino to guide him, Zubimendi has been able to fully immerse himself in the squad quickly and deeply. He is unassuming but surprisingly tall, strong and confident as he shakes hand and warns with a smile: ‘My English is not perfect but I can understand everything you say.’
He won over team-mates the first time they saw him kick a ball in training and then by singing his initiation song La Bachata, a global Latin hit from a few years ago, at the club’s pre-pre-season training camp in Spain.
Zubimendi is widely regarded as the most natural successor to Rodri, the current Ballon d’Or winner and cornerstone of both Manchester City and Spain. When Rodri is absent for the national team, it is Zubimendi who steps in. At Arsenal, Arteta sees him playing a similar role.
“Arteta is a coach who demands a lot of things from the midfielders,” Zubimendi said. “I’m going to have to do things I didn’t do before. But from that position, I’m going to try and give the side a balance and give the ball the right way out. And from there, I think he’s going to ask me for new things.
“I don’t know what he saw in me, but what I saw in him is that he’s a top coach in Europe. I’ve seen how obsessive and detailed he is with his game, so I think I’ve found the right one.”
Merino, now reunited with his friend in north London, is helping him settle.
He said: “I don’t have any advice to give him because he’s an amazing player. The only thing I would say is to be patient when things are not going your way because sometimes you need time to adapt.
“I think outside the pitch is a big step as well. You change countries, you change cultures. The rhythm of life is very different in our old city than here in London, in a massive city. I think we’re going to be living pretty close to one another, both in the same house, but I’ll try to be helpful.”
As for trophies? Zubimendi knows is he is being touted as one of the final pieces in Arteta’s jigsaw.
“Hopefully (I am),” he smiled. “I think the most important thing this club has is that it learns from previous seasons. Football is all about the details. I followed them in the Champions League and I think Arsenal were the only team that really stood up to PSG –— they just missed the details.”
And those details, Arsenal hope, are exactly what Zubimendi will bring.
*Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino were speaking at adidas’s launch of Arsenal’s 2025/26 away shirt.
