What shirt number will Martin Zubimendi wear at Arsenal?

Arsenal have now confirmed the long-awaited signing of Martin Zubimendi and many fans will be wanting to get his name on the back of their shirts for the 2025/26 season with his unique squad number now confirmed.

The midfielder had worn the number four shirt during his final two seasons with Real Sociedad, but was unable to occupy those digits for the Gunners, due to already being owned by Ben White. He had also worn the number three for his boyhood club, but despite that recently being vacated by Kieran Tierney, he opted against taking that shirt.

Instead, Zubimendi has decided to don a unique number during his time at Arsenal. As a throwback to the beginnings of his senior career, he will wear the 36 shirt for the Gunners.

Martin Zubimendi to wear number 36 for Arsenal

Following reports on his new digits earlier in the window, Zubimendi has decided to take a unique shirt number at Arsenal, but it doesn't come without meaning for the Spaniard.

The digits are the first the midfielder wore for Real Sociedad when he broke into their first team during the 2018/19 season, continuing to wear them the following campaign before switching to the number three shirt.

The Gunners' decision to give Zubimendi such a number would have been unusual a few years ago, but the signing of his new midfield teammate changed that. When Declan Rice joined Arsenal in 2023, he took the number 41 shirt, going against the club's tendency to hand first team players a number between one and 35.

Rice's occupation of that number shares a similar story to Zubimendi's, being the first he wore when coming through at West Ham.

While it always a nice piece of trivia to know what number a new signing will wear for their club, the main focus will be on how they perform on the pitch. Zubimendi is a brilliant addition to Mikel Arteta's squad and there is no doubt that he will perform brilliantly at the base of Arsenal's midfield.

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