Every signing Arsenal made last summer has had a positive impact.
Andrea Berta splashed over £200 million on eight new players, and that took the Gunners to a whole new level. Many feel the squad depth is the reason why they are the favourites to win the Premier League and Champions League.
Viktor Gyokeres is earning all the plaudits for his brace against Sunderland and rightly so. He is finally finding his feet and has looked very good since the turn of the year.
But the summer signing who has consistently been brilliant is Martin Zubimendi.
Who was your Arsenal Man of the Match vs Sunderland? Tell us why!
Mikel Arteta says even he didn’t expect Martin Zubimendi to score goals for Arsenal
Zubimendi has been a revelation since joining Arsenal.
Players usually need a few months – or sometimes even a whole year – to adapt to the Premier League after arriving from a foreign country, but the Spaniard hit the ground running.
Zubimendi has been outstanding in the middle of the park, and he has made all the players around him, especially Declan Rice, better.
A few months ago, Mikel Arteta claimed that he was surprised by how quickly Zubimendi had settled in at Arsenal.
Now, the Gunners boss is surprised by something else – his goals! Mikel Arteta has revealed that he didn’t expect him to score as many goals as he has this season.
Arteta said after watching Zubimendi score against Sunderland, as per Arsenal.com: “Zubi’s is a special one as well.
“He’s contributing now to the team in a way that probably we didn’t expect that much, but he really has an intuition and quality to deliver those moments in and around the box.”
Zubimendi has now scored six goals for Arsenal this season. That is his career-best return, and if he keeps going at the same rate, he could end the season with double figures.
Who deserves the Puskas Award – Martin Zubimendi or Dominic Solanke?
Zubimendi's goal was harder to score than Solanke's scorpion kick!
Martin Zubimendi’s stats vs Sunderland are so impressive
Gyokeres scored two goals against Sunderland, but as said in Arsenal Insider’s Player Ratings, Zubimendi was our Man of the Match for his performance.
The Spaniard recently made a big mistake against Manchester United, but since then, he hasn’t put a foot wrong in the famous red and white.
Against the Black Cats, Zubimendi had 62 touches of the ball and completed 47 out of his 51 attempted passes, maintaining an incredible 92 per cent passing accuracy.
The midfielder also made three interceptions, five ball recoveries and a clearance, and he wasn’t dribbled past a single time in the entire game.
Sofascore gave Zubimendi a 7.8/10 rating for his performance. Only Gyokeres scored higher among all the players who featured on Saturday.
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