Forget Martin Zubimendi, Liverpool have someone better | OneFootball

It comes after Liverpool's approach for the midfielder was accepted by Real Sociedad last summer, before Zubimendi eventually went on to decline us in favour of remaining with his boyhood club, citing a preference to remain living in the Basque region of Spain with it's mountains and cuisine.

But following one conversation with his fellow countryman Mikel Arteta, it seems as though he is now willing to give up everything he said he previously wanted, abandoning his principles to move to the famously mountainous region of the United Kingdom that is North London.

Liverpool fans could easily have respected Zubimendi's decision to remain with his boyhood club, especially given that is what we all wanted Trent Alexander-Arnold to do with us. But in the end, both players will be moving away - a bleak sign of the times for modern football.

Nonetheless, his rejection of the Reds actually turned out to be a good thing. Ryan Gravenberch was instead given the green light to play the No.6 role and he has been a revelation this season, playing a crucial part in us winning the Premier League, so I suppose we owe him a thank you.

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Zubimendi disappointment led to a net-gain for Liverpool

So let's unpack the news. Fans of a different persuasion will likely jump on this article with claims that Liverpool fans are using their team's league success as copium for losing out on Zubimendi.

However, the opposite is actually true. It's no surprise that Liverpool have been a bit fortunate to win the Premier League this season - the team looked incredibly leggy before getting across the line and Arsenal's inability to compete because of their own fitness issues has made it a walk in the park.

Gravenberch, for all his positives this season, eventually fell off in form. And while it shouldn't be a concern because he was pretty much run into the ground by Arne Slot, the issue should be noted.

Liverpool have a lot of issues to address this summer, so an understudy for Gravenberch will likely fall down the shopping list as other things take priority, but the club still hasn't signed a defensive midfielder to replace Fabinho. The 22-year-old was a make-shift option who unforeseeably excelled.

As such, the Zubimendi news is a bit of a blow. Academy players such as Stefan Bajcetic will likely be used to cover Gravenberch, but the Spaniard would've been a great player to have in the squad.

But in the end, Liverpool have benefitted from the saga - no money was spent on a defensive midfielder and yet the Premier League title was won anyway. And at four years younger, there is a claim to be made that the Reds have a player who is potentially better than Zubimendi.

By not needing to spend money on a defensive midfielder, Liverpool will also have an advantage over their league title 'rivals' Arsenal next season. The Gunners will spend £50m on yet another DM.

That's right, the narrative that Arteta's side is overly defensive will not be going away any time soon.

It is plausible that Zubimendi could be viewed as a direct replacement for Jorginho, who is out of contract this summer, but the Spaniard will join Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Thomas Partey who are all more than capable of performing the No.6 role. Is his signing really necessary?

So a substantial portion of their summer budget is going on a player they arguably don't need, before any conversations happen about their potential left-wing or striker targets - the positions that need investment.

Whereas, Liverpool who also need a left-winger and a striker will be able to get away without paying such an outlay for a defensive midfielder, all because Zubimendi forced us into this position.

Next season, the pressure will be firmly on Arteta to deliver a league title, whereas Liverpool will almost be considered under-dogs to retain their crown. The first move has been made in what will be a fascinating summer of transfers and Liverpool can already claim to be 1-0 up.