Fabrizio Romano confirms Liverpool remain confident to sign Real Sociedad’s Martín Zubimendi

Liverpool are maintaining a strong sense of confidence in their pursuit of Real Sociedad midfielder Martín Zubimendi, according to renowned football journalist Fabrizio Romano.

However, the Reds are yet to submit a bid for the 25-year-old.

Liverpool are exploring a deal to acquire Zubimendi as part of their efforts to strengthen Arne Slot’s squad with a new No. 6.

The move is complicated by Zubimendi’s €60 million (£51.7 million) release clause, which must be paid in full if the La Liga club does not agree to negotiate a lower fee.

Liverpool are currently winning the race to persuade Zubimendi to leave, a task that other Premier League suitors and clubs from elsewhere have struggled with.

Previously, Zubimendi has attracted interest from Arsenal and Barcelona, with Barcelona showing significant interest as far back as last summer.

Zubimendi was part of Spain’s European Championship-winning squad earlier this summer.

He served primarily as an understudy to Rodri in the No. 6 role, making appearances in Spain’s final group game against Albania and stepping in for Rodri at half-time in the final against England due to injury.

Fabrizio Romano posted on X: “Liverpool remain confident to sign Martín Zubimendi, with talks ongoing as reported earlier today.

“There’s still work to do but #LFC on it.”

During pre-season, Slot has utilized Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Ryan Gravenberch in that role, with the latter receiving commendation from the head coach.

“I think Ryan (Gravenberch) did really well in that position (during the 3-0 win over Manchester United in South Carolina) and we have other options as well,” Slot said on Monday.

The Dutchman added: “The bar is really high for new signings because we have so many good players.

“It is not so easy to first find a player to meet those standards and then is he available?

“Then we have to find an agreement with them, so it is not always easy to find a player who can help us.

“Richard (Hughes, sporting director) is working hard on it and let’s see what comes from this.

“If he’s not here with us then we speak on the phone many times.”

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