It seems Arsenal may now have a genuine January situation developing around Martín Zubimendi.

For weeks, his lack of minutes had mostly produced noise in Spain. Real Madrid were repeatedly dragged into the conversation, usually by journalists wondering why Mikel Arteta wasn’t using the midfielder.

Weel, this looks different. Atlético Madrid’s interest is now being backed up by multiple major Spanish sources, while one report goes as far as saying Zubimendi is “close” to the club. And January is very much part of the story.

RNE go big – Relevo and AS back up interest

RNE Deportes broke the news, with journalist Silvia Barba reporting that Zubimendi is “close” to Atlético Madrid.

She explained that the Arsenal player could become a winter reinforcement for Diego Simeone’s side.

“Zubimendi is a player who could already have left Arsenal in the summer, and there was even talk of Real Madrid,” Barba said.

“Well, watch out, because he could be an Atlético Madrid reinforcement in the winter break.”

RNE also brought Julián Álvarez into the equation. Arsenal have been interested in the Argentine, although there’s no claim here that the clubs are actually negotiating a swap.

The important bit is what happened next. Relevo say they’ve been able to confirm Atlético’s interest independently. They report Zubimendi is on the sporting department’s agenda and is liked throughout the club.

Atlético want another midfielder in January, with their current alternatives failing to provide enough cover when the regulars are unavailable. Zubimendi’s Arsenal situation has therefore arrived at a rather convenient time.

Relationship with Arteta said to be ‘cold’

There’s more from Relevo than simply confirming Atlético’s interest. They say Zubimendi’s relationship with Arteta is currently “cold”, following some friction towards the end of last season.

The midfielder has since fallen a long way down the pecking order. He’s managed 380 minutes across 12 appearances this season, with only 100 coming in the Premier League.

AS have also provided another layer of confirmation. They also credit RNE with the initial information and say they can confirm Atlético are among the main clubs interested in signing Zubimendi.

Their version goes further on Arsenal’s position. AS claim the Gunners need to raise money and the Spaniard is among those who could be sold. Arsenal paid €60m (£50m) for him and would apparently like to recover that investment.

There’s also some history here. Atlético looked at Zubimendi while he was still at Real Sociedad and even contacted his camp, according to AS, only to discover his Arsenal move was already lined up.

So this has moved beyond pundits in Spain trying to find Zubimendi an escape route. RNE say he’s close to Atlético. Relevo and AS don’t go that far, but both have independently confirmed the interest.

For Arsenal, that makes January considerably more interesting than it looked a few weeks ago.