Zubimendi, on the Camp Nou catwalk

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Martín Zubimendi (San Sebastián, 23 years old) has spent years looking at himself in the mirror of Sergio Busquets.

"He has done a lot of damage to the rest of the midfielders and I have a long way to go to become like him, really."

In Barcelona they dream of making the man from San Sebastian the substitute for their number 5. When the footballer of the 851 matches between Barcelona and the Spanish team says goodbye, Xavi yearns for having in his place the man who serves as a balance for Real Sociedad.

But it will not be easy for the Barça club, who will have, in the Camp Nou Cup match (Wednesday 25, 9:00 p.m., Movistar), the opportunity to see live the footballer who has grown so much in recent years, and who is in the agenda of various European clubs.

It will be exhibited once again on the catwalk of the Barça coliseum.

The last one is Arsenal.

Another from San Sebastian, Mikel Arteta, coach of the Premier League leader, asked the club's owners to sign Zubimendi.

The London entity went to Real Sociedad, to try to negotiate the transfer in the winter market, but from the office of Jokin Aperribay, the royalist president, they referred to the termination clause, which is still 60 million euros after the renewal of the player until 2027. They are not going to sell.

response

, Arsenal turned to the player himself, who shares a representative with Arteta, willing to pay that money so that Zubimendi would immediately sign for the

, but the Londoners were met with another refusal.

The footballer does not want to abandon his team in the middle of the season, with Real in third position and a comfortable advantage to get into the Champions League, and qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League.

In San Sebastián they fear that this current decision will change later, among other things, due to the determination of the player and his representative not to increase the amount of the clause that he had in his previous contract, although he has always downplayed the matter.

“La Real is characterized first of all by putting a very high clause on those of us who are from here and it is something to treat like everything else,” he pointed out in an interview with

before his renewal.

The point is that his price has been increasing since he established himself as a starter with Imanol Alguacil on the bench: "I'm the second player he throws the most fights at," Zubimendi said when talking about his coach.

The first was Januzaj, who is no longer at Real, so perhaps he has risen in the

, as his game has done, with which Real has grown exponentially.

Although Illarramendi is in the chamber, due to his experience and his quality, it is Martín who has taken ownership.

And he continues to look in the mirror of those who preceded him.

“As a pure pivot I have two references: Xabi Alonso and Busquets.

Xabi for his career and for leaving a small club like I did too ”, he points out.

“I can't say anything but flattery about his career and I was lucky that he was my coach afterwards.

With him I began to understand the release of the ball and how to change depending on how the opponent pressed”.

The student is reaching the level of his teacher.

In the Cup, against the team from his other instruction manual, he will have the opportunity to claim himself again on the pitch, and the Camp Nou spectators, to observe closely what may, perhaps, be his next number 5, — which is now number 3—, although the Premier League, more buoyant than Barcelona, ​​is also in the middle.

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