Revealed: Arsenal made shock bid to sign Harry Kane's Bayern Munich team-mate before Club World Cup and Martin Zubimendi swoop

The Gunners always intended to acquire Spain international Zubimendi, with a £60 million ($80m) transfer being completed with Real Sociedad. He was, however, not the only midfielder that Mikel Arteta had on his recruitment radar.

According to Bild, Arsenal made a serious play for Portuguese star Palhinha before Bayern headed to the FIFA Club World Cup. He is a player with Premier League experience from a spell at Fulham.

Palhinha left Craven Cottage for the Allianz Arena in 2024 for £48m ($64m). He endured a testing debut campaign in Germany - despite becoming a Bundesliga title winner - with only seven league starts taken in while sitting out two months through injury.

It is claimed that Bayern were willing to offload Palhinha back to English football for around £26m ($35m), as they took a hefty financial hit on the 30-year-old, but Arsenal were unable to agree a deal during transfer talks.

Despite missing out on Palhinha, Arteta has been able to add Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga to his ranks. Deals for Chelsea winger Noni Madueke and Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres are also in the pipeline.