Arsenal are favorites to sign Martín Zubimendi this summer and the transfer would mark the latest chapter in Mikel Arteta's lifelong love affair with Real Sociedad.
Mail Sport exclusively revealed on Tuesday that talks over a summer move are now at an advanced stage with sources indicating the deal is all but done.
It would be the second summer in a row that Arteta has signed a Sociedad player, with Mikel Merino joining in a £31.6m deal in August.
Sociedad is a club that the Spaniard has very close to his heart, since it was born in San Sebastián, where it has its headquarters.
He began his football career at Sociedad's subsidiary club Antiguoko, where he became close friends with former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso.
The two often played on the beaches and canals in the area and dreamed of playing together in Sociedad.
Mikel Arteta was born near San Sebastián and grew up supporting LaLiga's Real Sociedad.
Arsenal will face stiff competition to land Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi (left) this summer.
Arteta has already signed two former Sociedad players, Mikel Merino (left) and captain Martin Odegaard (right).
Robert Montiel, one of Arteta's youth team coaches, recalled a display of the then 12-year-old's prodigious talent.
he said The telegraph in 2023: 'We won 5-0 but everyone who was there always talks about Mikel's streak. From the center of the field he surpassed six of his players. You just had to beat the goalkeeper and he shot over the top. But that race… wow!
Alonso fulfilled that dream, but Arteta left for Barcelona's famous La Masia academy at the age of 15.
However, he never managed to break into a first team blessed with the talent of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta.
And the dream of playing for Sociedad became a reality in 2004, after two impressive seasons with Rangers.
He was hired to play alongside his old friend Alonso, but the midfielder quickly left for Anfield that same summer.
It didn't make for a very memorable homecoming for Arteta, who started just three games before joining Everton in the January window.
The midfielder would have much more success in the Premier League and it is clear that he has followed things closely at Sociedad since becoming manager.
Arteta began his football career at Sociedad club Antiguoko before representing the senior team during the 2004-05 season.
His return to his boyhood club was short-lived as he only started three games before leaving the January window.
Merino, Odegaard and Zubimendi have been linked with a move to Sociedad during the 2019-20 campaign
Following news of the Gunners' swoop for Zubimendi, who came close to joining Premier League rivals Liverpool last summer, a social media post showing a Sociedad squad from the 2019-20 campaign it went viral.
The squad included a midfield formed by Merino and Zubimendi, with the Gunners' captain, Martin Odegaard, on loan from Real Madrid, in the number 10 position.
Odegaard was signed by Arteta permanently in 2021 after an impressive loan spell and has since become captain and heart of the Gunners team.
Meanwhile, the striker of the Sociedad match in question was Alexander Isak, another player the Spaniard is known to admire.
Isak was linked with the north London club last summer and speculation over a possible move has only intensified given his impressive form and Arsenal's problems in the final third this season.
The 25-year-old scored a brace in Newcastle's 3-0 win over Wolves on Wednesday night to take his Premier League tally to 15 in 19 games. Isak, who signed a deal worth around £60million in 2022, will be extremely difficult to get out of St James' Park, with Mail Sport exclusively revealing last week that the Gunners do not have the funds to approve a move for him. Swedish. in the summer.
He could end up becoming one of those that escaped the Arsenal manager, but there are even more Sociedad stars linked to the Emirates. The love for the Basque club is not limited to its players.
The Gunners are currently searching for a new sporting director following the surprise departure of Edu in November.
Sociedad's sporting director, Roberto Olabe, who announced that he will leave the club in November, is the favorite to replace Edu at Arsenal
Arsenal have been closely linked with the signing of Alexander Isak, who is now starring for Newcastle
Sociedad's sporting director, Roberto Olabe, is one of the names on the list of possible candidates who have announced that he will leave the Spanish club.
Mail Sport revealed that Olabe is believed to be Arteta's preference for the job.
Olabe and Arteta already have an existing relationship. In fact, it was Olabe who signed the current Arsenal manager as a player in 2004 during his time as Sociedad manager.
Talks are reportedly at an advanced stage and the 57-year-old, praised for his role in turning around the San Sebastian club's fortunes, now the favorite for the job.
The only question left for Arteta to answer is whether this quest to get the band back together will allow the Gunners to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the Premier League and Champions League.
A look back at how Sociedad performed in 2019-20 will give fans some hope. In his first full season in charge of the team, Imanol Alguacil took the club from 12th to 6th place in LaLiga and won the Copa del Rey.
In the following seasons, despite the departures of Odegaard and then Isak in 2022, Sociedad managed to maintain its position as a European qualifier, even reaching the Champions League last season.
But recreating San Sebastián in north London seems like a risky move. The players in question are of undoubted quality, but the respective clubs are a world apart.
Manchester City recruited several of Pep Guardiola's former teammates including general manager Ferran Soriano (left) and director of football Txiki Begiristain (right) when he joined the club.
Arteta will need his San Sebastian recruits to improve their game at the Emirates if they are to achieve success.
A similar tactic has worked wonders for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, who essentially built a Catalan diaspora in the north of England to welcome them in 2016.
At the Etihad they joined the coaching staff, which included Arteta, as well as sporting director Txiki Begiristain, general manager Ferran Soriano, doctors and even a couple of former Barcelona players.
However, and with all due respect to the Manchester City that Guardiola joined, the Cityzens were and perhaps still are a much smaller club than the five-time European Cup winners.
If Arteta wants to create his own Spanish paradise in England, he will need all his recruits to improve their game to meet the high expectations of one of the most prestigious clubs in English football.