Great news, should bury Partey definitively. Zubimendi is quality.

Big fan of Zubimendi but I also have some concerns about Rice long term as an 8. It's probably purely aesthetics as I have always loved to have a midfield with a screening destroyer as the 6 behind two more technical and ideally hard working midfielders. The team did look awesome last year when Jorginho and Rice were partnered but I do have my doubts on Rice in a more advanced role. Now, if we could sort out the left side of the attack and bring in a goal scoring center forward, that may eliminate a lot of my concerns. Regardless, it shows that Arteta is still able to bring in the guys he wants and won't compromise even if Liverpool, City and Madrid are all knocking at the door. And even better, it means that Partey is finally going to be gone this summer - good riddance.

DiabyKungFu I think the main question with our squad building is - are we okay with Nwaneri being the depth for both Odegaard and Saka next year? It could be the route to getting him the most minutes but it also leaves us threadbare if any of the three suffer an injury again, or god forbid all three like this year. Ideally, we replace Trossard with another player who can rotate between attacking midfield and winger. It also might mean that if we sign a central striker, we will also have Havertz as depth at attacking midfield more regularly.

      samthegooner I think the main question with our squad building is - are we okay with Nwaneri being the depth for both Odegaard and Saka next year?

      Dunno. Maybe. As it stands, I don't think he's a winger like Saka or a guy to connect the midfield with the attack like Odegaard. He seems like a pure final third central player. Maybe he's young enough to be malleable, but he doesn't strike me as like-for-like with either of those players.

          Rice needs to be able to use his superpowers. That means giving him license to burst forward from deeper positions, and make recovery tackles. Zubi-Rice double-pivot, with wildly different remits aligned with their attributes, and a freer role for Odegaard. No more inverting left backs!

            DiabyKungFu I think that it might be better that he isn't a like for like. We saw last week that he can get forward and score goals from the wing but we've also seen his close control and associative play in the interior. Personally, I think he will be a good option to have at both spots but also wouldn't complain if we had other options available as well. If we do rely on him as a RW backup, we desperately need to add more pace on the other side.

              Coombs — couldn’t agree more! Would also let our left wing stay higher up.

                I hold no interest in this guy unless we sign a forward!

                Feels like news that has been released to get us excited about next season because they know this season is a write-off.

                  TambourineMan Feels like news that has been released to get us excited about next season because they know this season is a write-off.

                  Do even the biggest Martin Zubimendi fans really think that signing Martin Zubimendi is an "excited about next season"-level signing?

                    Coombs that for some games but switch to Ode as part of the pivot with Nwaneri in the free role against low blocks. We have a generational 10 in Nwaneri, we need to get him where he can do the most damage.

                        Excited might be too strong of a word but it does feel like a ploy to manage tensions.

                          Zubimendi is a good signing - particularly to replace what Jorginho gives us.

                          Partey is better though

                            Qwiss I'd be thrilled to see it.

                              my only niggle since we were linked with this guy is he's not one of the genius technical spanish pass masters that will give us a major creative spark from deep. his passing is decent but not super adventerous/progressive, but he looks more inclined to drive forward with the ball than your average Spanish pivot mid. he looks more like a smaller version of partey, but with less explosion and less brave passing. he'll solidify our control ball tactics and probably create a nice twin-raiding tandem dynamic with rice.

                              TambourineMan think this may be a little cynical. Suspect it's more likely the reason it's come out now is because it's the transfer window so (a) journalists are a investing more time in sourcing transfer stories and (b) a team like City have been sniffing round him this month to replace Rodriguez, so further reason for the press to investigate what's going on with Zubimendi specifically.

                                  Don Pacifico
                                  Don’t be naive man. Arsenal would have briefed the journalists on this. It’s a clear PR move as I’ve seen it. You only do these moves in a crisis 😉