Manchester City had a fairly low-key previous summer transfer window in terms of the number of new signings they made.
After landing a £33m deal for Savinho, City resigned Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer from Barcelona just a year after he left the Etihad Stadium.
In fact, the 2024 summer transfer window was more focused on the players City sold rather than bought.
For example, in addition to picking up a club-record sale fee of £81m for Julian Alvarez (via BBC Sport), the Blues also cashed in on the likes of Joao Cancelo, Sergio Gomez and Liam Delap.
Even though the latest summer transfer window has come and gone, some behind-the-scenes information has come to light regarding another player the Manchester club had the opportunity to sign and add to their squad.
- Man City summer transfer window 2024: Confirmed signings, departures, loan exits and releases
Man City ‘opted against’ bidding for Liverpool transfer target
A recent report from The Times had this to say on the matter.
It said: “Martin Zubimendi, who replaced Rodri in the Euro 2024 final after he suffered another injury to his hamstring, was available in the summer but City opted against bidding for the 25-year-old Real Sociedad player, who turned down a move to Liverpool.”
How did Martin Zubimendi perform last season?
After working his way through Sociedad’s youth ranks, Zubimendi has gone on to make 196 senior appearances for the Spanish club across all competitions prior to Saturday’s home match against Valencia in La Liga.
Back in 2023, then-Barcelona manager Xavi dubbed Zubimendi an “extraordinary” player (via Mundo Deportivo).
Looking back over the previous La Liga campaign, the 25-year-old ended the season with the highest number of passes into the final third of the pitch (136) than any other player at the club, as well as making more interceptions (37) than any of his Sociedad teammates.
With just a handful of league games played so far this season, the Spaniard is currently Sociedad’s highest-rated player with an overall performance rating of 7/10 from WhoScored.
Bearing in mind how Pep Guardiola recently revealed that Rodri will be out injured for the rest of the season, it’ll be interesting to see if City decide to make a move for Zubimendi once the upcoming January transfer window opens for business.
