Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi snubbed a transfer to Liverpool

Liverpool will be granted an open door to push through a January move for Martin Zubimendi after all, with strong new reports in Spain claiming the midfielder is regretting his decision to snub a summer move to Anfield for two reasons.

The Reds had hoped to make the Euro 2024 winner their first major signing of the Arne Slot era, having agreed to pay the €60m (£50.5m, $66.9m) release clause in his contract and having agreed on personal terms over his signing that would have seen Liverpool treble his Real Sociedad wages.

However, with the player having been scheduled to arrive on Merseyside for medical checks, Zubimendi’s agent contacted sporting director Richard Hughes to confirm the player had had second thoughts and would no longer be making the move.

While the decision came as a bitter pill for Hughes to take, the Reds decided against signing an alternative, with Hughes deciding instead to play the longer analytical route before pushing through alternative options.

However, it now seems the door towards Zubimendi’s signing has swung sensationally back open with Estadio Deportivo revealing the player is now ready to ‘back-track’ on the decision to reject the move to Anfield.

They claim that, with Sociedad failing to replace departed stars Robin Le Normand and Mikel Merino, and having got off to a poor start in LaLiga, where they find themselves 16th after six games, the player has now made clear he ‘regrets’ rejecting the Reds and ‘wants the Reds to launch a move to sign him again in January’.

Secondly, it’s also emerged that Sociedad are yet to offer him a new deal that was suggested they would do upon rejecting the move to Anfield, with the star remaining on the same deal – which according to Capology is worth €3m a year, or just under £50,000 a week – that he signed back in October 2022.