Arsenal Zubimendi latest: Gunners could lose out to Real Madrid for 'two key reasons'

Arsenal could reportedly miss out on the signing of Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi due to two key reasons.

Zubimendi is believed to be on the verge of a Premier League move, around a year after he turned down the chance to join Liverpool.

Arsenal are in pole position to sign the Real Sociedad star, having already reached an agreement in principle in personal terms.

The Gunners are willing to pay the player's €60m (£51m) release clause and are planning to accelerate their efforts to get a deal over the line following the international window. 

However, there still appears to be some concern about whether Real Madrid could make a late attempt to hijack Arsenal's bid to sign the 26-year-old this summer.

Two reasons Arsenal could miss out on Zubimendi

According to Spanish outlet AS, new Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso has made Zubimendi his top midfield target for the summer transfer window.

The report also claims that the Real Sociedad man may consider snubbing Arsenal in favour of Real Madrid due to two key reasons. 

Zubimendi would rather continue his playing career in Spain rather than move to the Premier League if he does leave Real Sociedad this summer.

The other reason is that Zubimendi is keen to play under Alonso again after previously being managed by him in the Real Sociedad B team.

Are Real Madrid willing to pay Zubimendi's release clause?

While Zubimendi may be open to joining Real Madrid, there is still a considerable amount to do for the Spanish giants to beat Arsenal to the midfielder's signature.

Los Blancos are reluctant to meet the player's release clause, and would therefore need to negotiate a transfer fee with Real Sociedad. 

Real Madrid are also unwilling to match Arsenal's contract offer, with the Gunners proposing a net salary of around €10m (£8.2m).

In contrast to the Gunners, Los Blancos are only prepared to give Zubimendi a contract worth €6m (£5.1m) or  €7m (£5.9m) per year.