Martin Zubimendi is reportedly close to joining Atletico Madrid from Arsenal in the January transfer window, with Spanish radio station RNE reporting on Monday that the Spain midfielder has picked the red-and-white club — and that his exit could reopen Arsenal's pursuit of Julian Alvarez.
It is a remarkable turn for a player Arsenal signed from Real Sociedad for around £60 million in the summer of 2025. Zubimendi arrived as a tempo-setting midfielder expected to anchor Mikel Arteta's side for years. Eighteen months on, he is reportedly preparing to go home.
A £60m signing reduced to a bit part
The numbers explain why. Zubimendi has played just 380 minutes across 12 matches in all competitions this season, according to Sports Mole, and TNT Sports puts his Premier League total at only 100 minutes without a single league start. Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and summer signing Bruno Guimaraes have all moved ahead of him in Arteta's pecking order.
That slide had already been reported before Monday. TEAMtalk reported on November 3 that Zubimendi was ready to leave in January, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico all interested, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund informed of his availability, and Chelsea and Liverpool also spoken to. RNE's update, reported by its sports director Silvia Barba, is that he has now chosen Atletico — a club whose sporting department has admired him for several years, since his Real Sociedad days.
For Diego Simeone, the fit is obvious. Zubimendi sets the tempo from deep, passes through pressure and reads space — exactly the profile Atletico have lacked at the base of midfield. Atletico sit third in La Liga with 28 points from 12 matches, five behind leaders Barcelona after Sunday's 2-1 home defeat by Barcelona, and a January addition of this quality would be a statement that they still intend to chase the top two.
The Alvarez link that complicates everything
What makes this more than a straightforward sale is the other name in the reports. RNE, relayed by AS and Mundo Deportivo, suggests the two deals are linked: Arsenal like Alvarez, showed interest in him during the summer, and Zubimendi's move could make those talks easier.
Alvarez's own situation in Madrid is delicate. The Argentina forward has scored only two goals in 12 appearances this season, after 20 in 49 last term, and TNT Sports reports he made clear in the summer that he wished to leave for Barcelona — a move Atletico refused to sanction. "The relationship between Atletico Madrid and Julian isn't working," Barba reported for RNE.
None of that makes an Alvarez move to London imminent. Mundo Deportivo puts Atletico's valuation at around £128 million, a figure that is hard to imagine any club paying in January for a player his club would also have to replace mid-season. Sports Mole is clear that the scenario, however attractive it looks for Arteta, is far from certain to happen.
So what happens next?
For Arsenal, the immediate question is price. They made a substantial investment in Zubimendi and will want to recoup as much of it as possible, especially with several European giants now aware he is available. For Atletico, January offers a rare chance to sign a Spain international in his prime, at 27, who already knows La Liga and wants the move.
The international break gives both clubs two quiet weeks to test whether reported interest becomes a formal negotiation. If it does, this could become the January window's defining swap story — one midfielder returning to Spain, and one World Cup-winning forward possibly travelling the other way.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Zubimendi to Atletico makes sense for everyone except the version of Arsenal that paid £60 million for him — a Champions League-level midfielder cannot be a 380-minute squad player, and Simeone is the coach most likely to rebuild him into the player Spain thought they were exporting. The Alvarez half of this story is the fantasy; the Zubimendi half looks real. Would you take a straight Zubimendi sale in January, or hold out for Alvarez as part of the deal?
