After a ridiculous claim that Martin Zubimendi regretted turning down a move to Liverpool gained traction in England and Spain, it has been labelled “nonsense.”
Zubimendi rejected the chance to join Liverpool over the summer in favour of staying with boyhood club Real Sociedad.
But after a tough start to the season, with Sociedad sitting 16th in LaLiga with four points from six games, it has been claimed that he was “regretting” his decision.
This came via an ‘exclusive’ from Twitter parody account @indykaila and later picked up by Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo.
The report cited “English media” as their source – in other words, the aforementioned tweet – but was then regurgitated by the likes of the Liverpool Echo, the Mail, the Mirror and talkSPORT.
Of course, with two minutes of research it would have been clear that these reports were at the very least questionable – and this has been backed up by Spanish reporter Mikel Recalde.
Speaking to DaveOCKOP, Recalde – journalist for San Sebastian newspaper Noticias de Gipuzkoa – described these new claims as “nonsense and invention.”
“It’s September, Martin Zubimendi decided to stay at Real and he’s going to play the whole season here,” he explained.
“Just because the team started badly isn’t going to change anything, since it’s the club of his life, his loves, his feelings.
“Next summer we’ll see, but nothing has changed. Zubimendi isn’t going to regret staying at home. It’s nonsense and inventions.”
These reports came after suggestions that Sociedad had reneged on their promise to offer Zubimendi a new contract to reward his loyalty and remove a £51 million release clause.
No talks over new Sociedad contract
But speaking to Recalde for Noticias de Gipuzkoa last week, president Jokin Aperribay insisted there was no such agreement.
“There has been no conversation with Zubimendi to renew the contract,” he said.
“There has not been now and there has not been before. He did not put any conditions on us.
“He understood the moment and knew that it was a market in which some players were already going to leave, and he understood that it was a time to stay at Real Sociedad.
“He has not put a renewal as a condition nor have we talked about it. The conversation with Martin was short and quick.”
Since Zubimendi’s decision to turn down Liverpool’s offer, Arne Slot has turned to Ryan Gravenberch as his first-choice starter in the No. 6 role.
The Dutchman has excelled so far this season, so much so that there are now question marks over whether Zubimendi was even needed and if the position is still a priority in the transfer market moving forward.
