BarcelonaSergio Busquets lifted his first title as Barça captain after the Super Cup final. This season it chooses to celebrate three more: the League, the Europa League and the Cup. Precisely, in order to win this last trophy, it will be necessary to beat Real Sociedad first (9 p.m., Movistar Liga de Campeones). The Basque side, who have not lost since November 3 – when they fell (0-1) against Manchester United in the group stage of the Europa League – arrive at the Camp Nou in a great moment of form. And much of the blame for this lies with their coach, Imanol Alguacil, and a young midfielder who is the apple of Xavi Hernández’s eyes: Martín Zubimendi.
For the Barcelona coach, the ideal replacement for Sergio Busquets would be, precisely, this Basque pivot. Raised in Donosti, he became part of the nursery blue and white when he was 12 years old and, with only 23, in August he already reached the number of 100 games with the first team. He made his debut in April 2019, but it was after the stoppage due to the pandemic when he became a regular in Imanol’s eleven, a coach who bets on being the protagonist with the ball, having an offensive approach and starting the plays building them up from the back. This season Zubimendi is the third player in the squad who has played the most minutes in all competitions (1,795), only surpassed by ex-Celta Brais Méndez (2,065) and goalkeeper Álex Remiro (2,430).
An international with Spain’s lower categories, Xavi fell in love with him during the Tokyo Olympics. The national under-23 team fell in the final against Brazil, but left a big impression throughout the tournament. The youth and virtues of Zubimendi, tutored in the elite by a coach with a taste for positional football like Imanol – the footballer himself explained that he was one of the players the coach scolded the most – and raised in one of the ‘A state from which prominent pivots such as Xabi Alonso or Illarramendi have come out, make Xavi consider him as the best positioned to take over from Sergio Busquets with whom Barça has not yet, as ARA has been able to learn, made any approach for talk about a renewal that the technician would also like.
Zubimendi and Busquets face to face
Making a brief comparison between the two and taking as a basis the League matches they have played, Zubimendi stands out for having recovered more balls (100) than the Blaugrana captain (78) and, also, for having won more duels (148 to 140) . On the other hand, Busquets has served more passes (871 to 823), while the Basque has handed out one more assist than the Catalan (2 to 1) and has also scored a goal, one by Badia. Busquets, however, has participated in two fewer games (17 to 15) in the League. One of the virtues that Xavi also especially values in Zubimendi is that he is a positional pivot, one of the shortcomings that, on the other hand, he sees in De Jong – much more to go.
Xabi Prieto, living history of Real Sociedad and ex-captain of the team blue and white, describes Zubimendi in a conversation with ARA: “He is a footballer who has evolved a lot and would fit in very well at Barça. He is able to break lines by driving the ball, he wins duels both up and down. He knows how to play well in short and long. He positions himself very well, knows how to read the pace of the games, be aggressive when he has to be… He is a very complete midfielder.” Prieto admits it is too early to compare him to Busquets, but sees him as an ideal replacement: “In modern football he may end up being more complete. He may not look like a quick player, but he is strong and has an outlet remarkable”. This Thursday, in the preview, Xavi himself highlighted “the physical virtues” of Zubimendi, but said that the Barça captain is “better technically”.
The alternatives to Zubimendi
The problem, however, is that Zubimendi – who renewed in October – has a contract until 2027 and a termination clause of 60 million euros, and Real does not usually negotiate the sale of its franchise players, but refers the interested clubs to pay the clause. The last example is the departure of Isak to Newcastle in exchange for depositing the 70 million that was worth his freedom. At this time, 60 million is a prohibitive price for a Barça that continues to exceed in the fair play financial and who knows that in the summer he will have to make a much more modest investment after renewing the staff at the stroke of lever.
It is most likely that Zubimendi will leave Real at the end of the season, since when he decided to renew his salary conditions were improved, adapting them to those of a starting player with the first team, but he asked not to increase his clause , which was already 60 million. The Premier League, and specifically Arsenal, could be his next destination, while Barça will have to settle for other alternatives.
As already published by the ARA, one of the options is Guido Rodríguez, from Betis. He is 28 years old and his contract expires next year, a fact that could force the Sevillian club – also a need in terms of fair play– to advance the sale to this summer. The recommendation of the agent Jorge Mendes, very close to the president Joan Laporta, is Rúben Neves, 25 years old and who plays for the English Wolverhampton. A last option that does not satisfy Xavi or his coaching staff, who will not throw in the towel to try to sign Zubimendi, who will step into the Camp Nou today in the colors of the rival team.
