Declan Rice and Martin Keown have both credited Martin Zubimendi for his transformative impact at Arsenal following the Gunners' 3-1 Champions League victory over Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium. The result ended Bayern's perfect start to the campaign and underlined Arsenal's growing credentials in the competition.
Keown, speaking on TNT Sports, noticed a significant change in Rice's role during the match, telling the England midfielder: "You were running free in that game. Galloping all over the pitch, it was just like someone has lifted the chains off you. Is it Zubimendi that is giving you that licence to?"
Rice agreed with Keown's assessment, saying: "Yeah, it's been so easy to play with him. We only signed him in the summer, and usually it takes a while to build a connection. But from the first moment we had together in pre-season, I could just tell that I was going to play some good football with him."
The Arsenal midfielder went on to praise Zubimendi's technical qualities, describing him as "the Spain number six" and highlighting his ability in first-phase build-up, turning on the ball and playing forward into pockets. Rice added: "We all trust him with the ball. If there is a player on you, it is just easy to give him the ball, and we all feel so confident with him. He has been so good for us - an unbelievable player."
Zubimendi, who was previously linked with Liverpool before joining Arsenal in the summer, has quickly established himself as a key figure in Mikel Arteta's side. Despite injury concerns affecting the squad for much of the campaign, Arsenal have climbed to the top of both the Premier League and Champions League standings.
