Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi is reportedly a transfer target for Atletico Madrid, who are also eyeing up Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez.

The Spanish giants are said to be leading the race to sign Zubimendi, who has fallen down the pecking order at Arsenal in recent times despite initially making a strong start to life at the Emirates Stadium last season.

The 27-year-old impressed at Real Sociedad and immediately looked at home at Arsenal, forming a strong partnership with Declan Rice and proving a key figure for Mikel Arteta’s side as they ended their 22-year wait to win the Premier League title.

Still, Zubimendi lost his place towards the end of the campaign and has barely featured so far this term, with talkSPORT now linking him strongly with Atletico Madrid.

They claim Diego Simeone has approved the move, though the Spain international has also been linked strongly with Chelsea by the Independent.

Will Martin Zubimendi leave Arsenal?

We recently covered Zubimendi’s situation here, with the understanding being that Arsenal would prefer to keep him for the rest of this season at least.

Still, things can change, and it is clear that the former Sociedad man has struggled to impress for a while now, with more competition for places since Bruno Guimaraes’ arrival in the summer.

Zubimendi will surely not want to spend that much longer warming the bench, but it remains to be seen if AFC will be prepared to sanction an exit when they need the squad depth.

All in all, it’s an intriguing situation that seems worth keeping an eye on, with top clubs likely to be interested in a quality player like this if he does become available.

Zubimendi could link up with Lisandro Martinez at Atletico Madrid

Another Atletico target mentioned by talkSPORT is Man Utd defender Martinez, who seems more likely to definitely be on the move soon.

The Argentina international has struggled to reach his best form at Old Trafford and he’s also put himself in a difficult position after his recent public outburst against sporting director Jason Wilcox.

Atletico would surely do very well to land two proven talents like this in one go.