Martín Zubimendi has gone from a summer signing to a player whose Arsenal role now looks fragile. He has only started one of his twelve matches played, has accumulated 380 minutes across all competitions, and barely reaches 100 minutes in the Premier League. That slump has pushed Atletico Madrid into the conversation, with Spanish reporting now pointing toward a January route back to LaLiga.

Arsenal's drop in Zubimendi's usage

The numbers tell the story plainly enough. Zubimendi has made only 7 appearances for Arsenal this season and has 109 minutes in total, with his Premier League usage also at 109 minutes. He has only 2 Champions League appearances. For a player signed to matter more than this, that is a sharp drop in influence.

TEAMtalk reported that Arsenal are aware of Zubimendi's feelings and the possibility that he could look to move on in January. Relevo went further, saying the Arsenal player is close to the red-and-white club, and Silvia Barba added that he could be the replacement for Julián Alvarez in Atletico Madrid's team. That replacement angle is still speculative, but the interest itself is not.

Atletico Madrid's winter need

Relevo said Atletico are already thinking about the winter market, with the club's midfield absences creating a gap they want to address. The outlet added that neither Obed Vargas nor Rodrigo Mendoza have been able to replace Koke, Cardoso, Barrios or Hjulmand, which has opened the door to looking for another midfielder.

That is where Zubimendi fits. He looks less like a long-term fantasy target and more like a player whose situation at Arsenal has made him available at the right time. Atletico sit third in La Liga and have 4 points from 4 Champions League matches, so there is a football reason to move early rather than wait.

The move is not done, and no club has confirmed anything. Even so, the reporting from RNE and TEAMtalk lines up with the same basic point, Zubimendi's Arsenal role has shrunk quickly enough to make a January exit a live possibility, and Atletico are the club most obviously in the picture.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →