Arsenal ace Martin Zubimendi at centre of massive argument as ‘relationship is very bad’

Martin Zubimendi left Real Sociedad to join Arsenal in a £60million move during the summer transfer window and his former club are now embroiled in a legal battle

Arsenal’s Martin Zubimendi is caught up in a dispute between his old clubs Real Sociedad and Antiguoko.

The midfielder left Sociedad during the summer transfer window to join Mikel Arteta’s squad. Real Madrid, where his hero Xabi Alonso took over as manager from Carlo Ancelotti last season, showed interest from back home.

However, Zubimendi opted for Arsenal, who forked out £60million to get him on board. The 26-year-old had made a name for himself internationally with stellar performances that helped Spain clinch Euro 2024, before moving to the Emirates Stadium.

Zubimendi now bolsters an Arsenal midfield alongside Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, contributing to the Gunners’ four-point lead at the top of the Premier League after nine games.

However, the Sun reports Zubimendi’s youth club Antiguoko have taken the matter to court. They allege they’re due £870,000 (€1m) from the deal that saw him move to north London last summer, reports the Mirror.

“Currently, the relationship with Real Sociedad is very bad on their part,” said Roberto Montiel, technical director of Antiguoko. “We had an agreement with Real Sociedad until 2020. Since then, we have an agreement with Athletic Bilbao.”

Antiguoko president, Angel Montiel, has spoken out against Real Sociedad, accusing them of unfair treatment. “When Zubi signed for Real Sociedad, it was agreed that, in the event of a transfer, we would receive 5 per cent up to one million euros in return.

“With this behavior, we decided not to renew the agreement with them because we felt mistreated by them.”

Zubimendi spent five years at Antiguoko before moving to Sociedad at 12. He briefly returned to the club on loan as a teenager. Notably, Antiguoko is also where Arsenal’s head coach, Arteta, began his youth career.

Montiel continued his criticism of Sociedad, stating: “They are obsessed with crushing us at all levels. They want us to be more and more inferior. The Provincial Council of Guipúzcoa has put in place a law that is subject to Real Sociedad of ‘territoriality’.

“This means that a boy or girl from a town bordering 5 kilometers from San Sebastián up to under-14 category cannot sign for Antiguoko.

“In other words, any boy or girl within the entire periphery of San Sebastián and its surroundings cannot sign with us, even though the kids’ parents wanted them to join us.

“This would be translated as explaining that a child from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of London cannot sign for any club in London up to under-14 category. Madness!

“Real Sociedad collected the transfer fee from the sale of Martín Zubimendi from Arsenal and has not paid us the five per cent that corresponds to us according to the agreement.

“Real Sociedad has not said anything, and we have made the request in court. And we will have an administrative dispute to reach an agreement. They will maintain their position of not paying us. That money is very important to us because we invest it in our academy.

“Another example of the poor relationship with Real Sociedad is last season. We were holding an official event to reward Martín for all the sporting achievements he has achieved, and Real Sociedad did not give him authorisation to collect the award.

“As a result of that decision, we had to cancel the event.

“We have already agreed with Martín that we will hold the event at the end of this season. Furthermore, I don’t think a former Antiguoko player, Mikel Arteta, will pose any problem.”