Martin Zubimendi has had an interesting debut season at Arsenal.
The Spain international was a target for several top clubs across Europe, but Mikel Arteta convinced him to join the Gunners over everyone else.
Zubimendi has had his difficult moments, but for the most part, he has been outstanding for Arsenal, considering that this is his first-ever season in the Premier League.
Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has heaped praise on him now and explained how his style has changed in recent months.
Do you think Martin Zubimendi is underrated in the Arsenal fanbase?
Spain manager hails Arsenal star Martin Zubimendi
Spain have always had an exceptional midfield, and it is no different now.
In their defensive midfield position, De la Fuente has Arsenal star Martin Zubimendi and Manchester City’s Rodri, and he is a big fan of both of them.
The Spain boss has branded Rodri as the best in the world in that position, along with Zubimendi, and he has backed the idea of playing the two of them together.
That is when De la Fuente mentioned the change he has noticed in the Arsenal man – he is getting into the box and scoring more.
That has been the case since he started working with Arteta at Arsenal, where he has had his highest-scoring season ever.
De la Fuente said, as per the Evening Standard: “After all the setbacks he went through, Rodri is back at a high level. I’ve said before that he is the best in the world, but also on those same occasions [when he was injured] that we are very fortunate.
“After all, in that position, the number six role, we have the two best players in the world: Rodri and Martin. Of course, they can play together. We can play that way perfectly well. In my idea of football, they [Rodri and Zubimendi] may occupy a similar role, but they are different players with different characteristics.
“In fact, Martin is getting into the box more now and scoring goals, but he also has the qualities of a positional player, with balance and outstanding tactical awareness. Rodri has those same qualities too, so having them there gives us security, that kind of structure.”
How much is Martin Zubimendi worth to Arsenal now?
It's certainly a lot more than the £51m we paid!
There’s still one thing Martin Zubimendi has to learn from Rodri
De la Fuente is right, Zubimendi is up there with the best defensive midfielders in the world, but there is room for improvement.
In the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, the Arsenal midfielder was barely seen at the start of the second half.
When the Gunners struggled to get out of their own third, Zubimendi had to be the one to get on the ball and play through City’s lines.
That is exactly what Rodri would have done, which shows that there is still a gap between the two Spanish defensive midfielders.
However, we expect Zubimendi to improve on that front very quickly at Arsenal and become Spain’s first-choice defensive midfielder very soon.
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