Manchester City fans are expectant ahead of the January transfer window, with Martin Zubimendi thought to be a target.
Rodri is out for the foreseeable future and there is potential for City to sign someone in January, which is not something we see from the club very often. However, circumstances are much different this season.
Rodri himself is thought to want Zubimendi to join City and become his replacement, with the Etihad star knowing all about him given they are Spain teammates.
Man City are said to be ‘confident’ of landing Zubimendi, but the club may not have a straight run at him.
The Independent have claimed Arsenal are also interested in the Real Sociedad star, so we could well be seeing the Premier League giants going head to head, as was the case over Declan Rice in the summer of 2022 before City quickly bowed out of the race.
Manchester City News now proposes three reasons why Zubimendi should choose Manchester City over Arsenal.
He would play straight away for Man City
With Rodri out until the end of the season, Zubimendi would likely become a regular starter pretty much straight away at City.
He is someone who sits in front of the defence in that ‘Rodri role’ and clearly, there is currently a major need for someone to provide better control in there.
Zubimendi is a player capable of controlling the tempo of games from deep, and he just seems like an ideal player to bring in at this moment in time.
But once Rodri was back fit again, there’d be no reason why the pair couldn’t play together, with someone like Phil Foden operating as a number 10 in front of them.
Rodri has shown box-to-box capabilities in recent times, so perhaps Zubimendi could sit to allow his compatriot to make more effective use of his vision and passing further forward.
Zubimendi would work with the best of the best
City have one of the best squads in football, headed by potentially the greatest manager of all-time.
Zubimendi would surely love the chance to work with Pep Guardiola. It may well be that he finishes up at the Etihad Stadium next summer, with his contract being up.
So it could be a final opportunity for Zubimendi to experience his greatness before he moves on.
But there is also the prospect for Zubimendi of working with amazing players like Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and of course, Rodri.
The chance to become a club teammate of Rodri – the official best player in the world after his Ballon d’Or win – is bound to appeal, and it’s something that could actually bring him on as a player.
Arsenal have a great manager in Mikel Arteta and some top-class players of their own such as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard – but the environments don’t compare.
- READ MORE: Man City fans all have the same verdict about Martin Zubimendi’s potential January transfer
A better chance to win trophies regularly
One of the biggest motivations for a footballer is to win trophies and City have been hugely successful in recent times.
The club have won the Premier League four years in a row, and also won the Champions League in 2022/23 as part of an historic Treble.
Zubimendi has won just the one trophy so far at Sociedad, which was the Copa del Rey in 2019/20.
If he’d like to win trophies regularly, he will choose City over Arsenal, who have won just one FA Cup and two Community Shields under Arteta.
