Chelsea transfers: Alonso ‘loves’ Arsenal star and ‘would love to work’ with him – Romano
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso would love to bring Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi to Stamford Bridge.
The transfer guru has claimed that Alonso, who was appointed Chelsea manager in the summer of 2026, wanted to sign Zubimendi for Bayern Munich when he was in talks with the German club.
Alonso left Bayer for Real Madrid in the summer of 2025, but not before he had talks with Bayern, who were impressed with the Spanish manager winning the Bundesliga title in 2024.
Romano’s claim follows The Independent reporting this week that Chelsea are among the clubs keeping tabs on Zubimendi, who joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad in the summer of 2025 for £60million.
The Spain international midfielder was a key player for Arsenal last season, as Mikel Arteta’s side won the Premier League title and reached the final of the Champions League.
Zubimendi, though, lost his place in the Arsenal starting line-up towards the end of last season and has not made a single start in the Premier League so far this campaign.
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Xabi Alonso ‘loves’ Arsenal star Martin Zubimendi
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “When we talk about Zubimendi, we should always remind that there is a manager who loves Zubimendi, and that manager is Xabi Alonso.
“Xabi Alonso, imagine when he was in conversations to become the Bayern manager and then he decided to reject.
“I am talking about Bayer Leverkusen times. Bayern wanted Xabi Alonso as new coach, then he rejected because he wanted to go to Real Madrid at the time.
“But when he met with Bayern, at the time, he told them, if I am coming, I want Martin Zubimendi.
“So, he’s a player he loves. One day Xabi Alonso would love to work with Martin Zubimendi, but at the moment, again, that’s it.
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“And also, seeing Arsenal selling to Chelsea obviously that would take very big money and also Chelsea, I will keep in mind the name of Alex Scott when we talk about midfielders.”
Martin Zubimendi wants Arsenal stay
Zubimendi, though, wants to stay at Arsenal and made that clear in an interview with Marca this week.
When the midfielder was asked whether he would stay at Arsenal until the end of the season, he said: “Yes, I hope so. I’m happy there.”
Zubimendi also dismissed rumours that he is close to joining Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window.
The midfielder said: “To be honest, I’m sometimes surprised by the press too.
“I understand that the winter transfer window is approaching and rumours can surface, but I think we need to be a bit more careful with what we publish.
“Ultimately, everyone has a team they play for, and we need to respect that.
“I’ve also read that I might be close, but not at all.”
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