Journo: Chelsea make move to sign Spanish star with £56m release clause

Chelsea now make a move to sign Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi

According to journalist Simon Phillips on GiveMeSport (h/t Football.London), Chelsea are now making a move to sign Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi in the January transfer window.

The report claims that the Spanish international, who has a contract with the La Liga club until the summer of 2027 (Transfermarkt), has a release clause of £56m.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano wrote in his Substack column that Chelsea are looking to make a move to sign Jude Bellingham. But, with hefty competition and high asking price expected, signing Zubimendi seems more realistic for the club.

Zubimendi is a versatile midfield player who can operate both as a defensive midfielder and a box-to-box central midfielder. He is a Sociedad youth product, who started playing for their senior team in 2020 onwards.

If we talk about the first half of this season, the 23-year-old was used solely as a defensive midfielder. He scored one goal and assisted two in 14 La Liga appearances.

The Spaniard is good on the ball (as most players from his country are). He is an excellent reader of the game defensively, works hard for the team and can dictate the tempo of the game from the deeper-lying midfield position.

Chelsea are in a situation where two of their senior midfielders – N’Golo Kante and Jorginho could leave for free in the summer because their contracts are expiring and no extension is agreed upon yet.

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Irrespective of that, the Blues have lacked spark and ball control in the midfield department this season. Zubimendi comes from Spain, where ball control and possession game is engrained to the players from a young age. He can come in and not just improve the quality of our possession game, but add a bit more dynamism to the midfield.