Earlier this week, news broken that Liverpool made a move to sign Martin Zubimendi. Talks have been ongoing with the Euro 2024 winner, and also Real Sociedad – although the Basque giants are likely to refer to the €60m release clause.

La Real have been pessimistic about their chances of keeping Zubimendi, who had reportedly given the go-ahead for a deal to take place. A deal seemed straightforward at that stage, but now it is anything but.

Noticias de Gipuzkoa have reported that La Real have launched a lasp-gasp effort to keep Zubimendi at the club, desperately convincing him not to leave. This has led to the 25-year-old doubting whether or not to make the move to Liverpool, who are pushing hard to receive a response to their contract offer as soon as possible.

Given that Mikel Merino is closing in on a move to Arsenal, Real Sociedad really cannot afford to lose Zubimendi too this summer. It remains to be seen whether their efforts prove to be successful – it should be known in the next 24-48 hours.