Arsenal player decides to leave the club just five games into new season in huge blow for Mikel Arteta

Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi is pushing to leave the Emirates Stadium just five games into the new campaign, according to reports.

Zubimendi joined the Gunners in a £60million move from Real Sociedad in July 2025 and played a crucial role in helping Mikel Arteta's side win the Premier League title, featuring in all 38 league matches.

The Spaniard made a bright start to life in English football, but has since dropped down the pecking order and could be on the chopping block once January rolls around.

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Martin Zubimendi could leave Arsenal in January

Arsenal have won all four of their Premier League matches this term, most recently beating Sunderland 2-0, with new signing Bruno Guimaraes breaking the deadlock with a piledriver from range.

Guimaraes is already making himself a fan favourite in north London after joining from Newcastle United, while Zubimendi has been used sparingly by Arteta.

The 27-year-old has only appeared for 59 minutes across four top-flight matches, which perhaps isn't a surprise as he was linked with a move away from the Emirates this summer.

Xabi Alonso was reportedly interested in bringing Zubimendi to Chelsea after previously trying to sign him during his brief spell as Real Madrid boss.

Los Blancos have since 'maintained contact' with the midfielder's camp, according to TEAMtalk's Graeme Bailey, who revealed that Arsenal's No. 36 will 'push' to leave in the middle of the season if he is unable to secure a place in Arteta's starting line-up by the turn of the year.

Currently, Zubimendi's chances of featuring regularly in the line-up are increasingly slim, as Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard and Guimaraes are all preferred ahead of him.

It was also perhaps telling that, when Arteta rotated his team for the 1-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League, the Spaniard played Mikel Merino in a deep-lying midfield role alongside Rice instead of Zubimendi.

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Mikel Arteta's stance on Martin Zubimendi sale

Zubimendi's reduced minutes at the start of this season isn't surprising when Lewis-Skelly has produced exceptional performances alongside Rice, while Guimaraes truly announced himself with a goal against Sunderland on Saturday.

But that doesn't mean the Spain international is out of favour at the Emirates, as Arteta confirmed in August that he's a "very important" player for the club.

“Without a doubt, he was one of the best players for Arsenal last season. I mean, without him, we would never have got into the position that we got in the last few weeks," the Gunners boss said.

"He deserves massive credit. Certainly credit from all of us, all the coaches, myself, and especially his teammates. We know that without him, we would never reach the level and the way that we competed throughout 10 months.

“At the end, yeah, he didn’t play that much. He still played some important minutes, but he didn’t play that much. But no one can neglect the importance of what he did and how important he is for us.

“That’s important to comment on, because a lot of people end up with the taste: ‘But this player played in the Champions League final.’

“Yeah, yeah, because this guy did it for 10 months. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here playing in these finals. He deserves a lot of credit for that.”

When directly asked if Zubimendi could be sold, Arteta replied: “No, he’s a really important player for us.”

Whether that stance has changed after using Zubimendi for just 82 minutes across all competitions remains to be seen, but it appears that a January exit would be possible just 18 months into a five-year contract.