Real Madrid have been told that they made a “huge mistake” with Arsenal star Martin Zubimendi, who joined the Premier League giants in the summer.

In recent years, Zubimendihas emerged as one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe and he has attracted heavy interest from clubs in recent years.

During the 2024 summer transfer window, Zubimendi looked likely to join Liverpool, though he eventually decided against a move and remained at Real Sociedad for one more year.

It was subsequently widely reported that the Spain international would join Arsenalin this summer’s transfer window as they were at the front of the queue for his signature over Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Arsenal eventually secured his services for around ￡60m, with a higher fee than his ￡51m release clause spent so they could spread the payments.

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Unsurprisingly, Zubimendi hit the ground running for Arsenal this season and ex-La Liga star Javier Casquero reckons Real Madrid should have signed him.

“It’s a huge mistake that Martin Zubimendi isn’t at Real Madrid,” Casquero said during an interview with Marca.

In a recent interview with AS, Zubimendi lifted the lid on why he opted to sign for Arsenal over other clubs.

Zubimendi said: “I don’t know, you get a feeling.

“Once I decided to leave Sociedad, Arsenal was a team that, from what I’d seen, suited me well, especially in terms of play.

“I also wanted a very detail-oriented manager, and in Mikel, as soon as I spoke to him, I found him.

“At Arsenal there was a very young team, with a lot of passion, very close-knit, eager to win, and even though they haven’t been able to do so, that makes them even more eager.”

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Zubimendi added: “I can’t talk about other teams.

“Arsenal was the one I had decided on, and I went all in.”

Zubimendi has also broken down the differences between playing in Spain and England.

“The mentality is: be a man. Go into clashes hard. It’s more direct,” Zubimendi admitted.

“In Spain when you get the ball, it’s more about keeping it; (in England), whenever you win it, it’s straight on to the attack. Transitions are unavoidable, it’s harder to control.

“But (handling) that is not about ability as such, it’s getting your mind used to it. That’s different to La Liga but the thing that has most struck me is the dead ball, how important it is.

“I’m seeing loads of goals from that and they’re often what opens up the game. We have a set-play coach and we work on that practically daily.”