Real Madrid Surprises ESPN Journalist for Interest in Arsenal Transfer Target
Recently, Diario AS reported that highly sought-after Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi is drawing interest from Real Madrid.
This follows reports from the Daily Mail in England indicating that Arsenal was close to activating the player's release clause, which is approximately $65 million. However, no deal was made, so it leaves the door open for any other club like Real Madrid to secure him.
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In a recent episode of "The Gab & Juls Show," Julien Laurens offered a surprising reaction to this rumor. The ESPN journalist believed that Los Blancos would target Manchester City midfielder Rodri, as the Spanish giants are looking for a ball-playing midfielder who excels in defensive situations.
I thought they were going to wait for Rodri to leave City in a year or something like that to be their No. 6 instead of going for Zubimendi.
- Julien Laurens
Nonetheless, Laurens does state one reason why Los Blancos would want the Real Sociedad standout rather than waiting for Rodri to want to leave the Premier League side.
He was very happy to go there and work with Arteta. So, I don't know; that might change. Not to my knowledge... I mean, he's obviously a very good player. He's younger than Rodri and would do a good job for Real Madrid, just as he would for Arsenal.
- Julien Laurens
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Eduardo is an experienced freelance football writer covering Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG On SI. He also covers PSG for PSG Talk and French football for Ligue 1's official English website. He's contributed to NBC Sports' regional sports networks, including NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, providing in-depth sports content for those markets.