Why Martin Zubimendi turned down Liverpool for ‘family’: Exclusive interview

If anyone can understand Martin Zubimendi’s decision to turn down Liverpool’s advances this summer in favour of staying at Real Sociedad, it’s Asier Illarramendi.

In the summer of 2013, he had just been named La Liga’s ‘Breakthrough Player’ and ‘Best Midfielder’; he was 23 years old and one of the most sought-after central midfielders in Europe.

And when Real Madrid came in for him, like Zubimendi this summer, he felt the lure of a footballing giant tugging against the pull of boyhood club Real Sociedad and his beloved Basque country.

“At the end of the day, it is hard to leave your home,” Illarramendi – who now plays for FC Dallas in MLS – tells Football365. “Martin is from San Sebastian; he has played his whole life with Real Sociedad and it is hard to just leave home. His decision was to stay and although it was a hard decision to make, he wanted to continue his career with La Real.

“It is very difficult to leave home, to leave your family. Real Sociedad isn’t just another club, we are a family. I was there many years and I saw players leave Real Sociedad but leave sad because they leave their family.”

Illarramendi was younger than Zubimendi when he first left the ‘family’, two years the Liverpool target’s junior when the biggest club in Spain, in the world, came in with a €32 million bid for his services. It was an offer too good for the side from San Sebastian to refuse. It was also an opportunity the young midfielder could not resist, but one, on reflection, for which he was not prepared.

“It was the first time I left home,” he says. “It was a big jump that was hard. I had just signed for the best team in the world. It is totally different to play for Madrid because despite being used to playing with pressure, the pressure while wearing the Real Madrid jersey is a lot more; you notice the pressure.

“To me, I can honestly say the pressure got to me, but this is football, it happens. I’ve moved on and I learned a lot from those experiences.”

His stay at the Bernabeu lasted two seasons before he returned to La Real in a €15 million deal. His time with the club is largely looked back upon with disappointment. But he accumulated more than 90 appearances and played a part in ending an 12-year Champions League drought – an unthinkably long barren stretch for the competition’s most frequent winners – to land a 10th European Cup, La Décima.

“I have beautiful memories playing for Real Madrid, from playing Champions League matches to winning La Décima,” Illaramendi says. “It was a long wait for Madrid fans to win La Décima, but after winning it, more Champions Leagues were won. My time at Madrid was intense, a lot of lessons learned that I carry with me for the rest of my life.”

And those lessons are now informing his role with FC Dallas. He joined the MLS club in August 2023, ending an eight-year second spell with Real Sociedad in which he made almost 200 appearances and captained the Basque club.

Now 34, he is the second-oldest player on the Dallas roster. Once one of the hottest young midfielders in Europe, he is now a veteran who often shares a midfield with Patrickson Delgado (20), Dante Sealy (20) and Bernard Kamungo (22).

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“You learn everything when you train with the best players in the world,” he says. “I was like a sponge; I absorbed everything from the players and tried to learn the most that I could. Here at FC Dallas, I try to help the youth as much as I can, like the players did at Real Madrid.

“I never really thought about coming to MLS in my younger years. But I realised that in my last couple of years I wanted to try something new. When I knew my time at La Real was over, I knew I wanted to join an MLS team. Dallas made an offer for me in the final days of the transfer window and the rest is history. I am very happy to be here and live in the city of Dallas.”

Before his Stateside switch, Illarramendi had played little regular football over the previous four years. A broken leg suffered in the Basque derby against Athletic Club in the early weeks of the 2019-20 season marked the start of an injury-stricken stretch that encompassed shin surgery, muscle tears, ankle ligament damage and only 28 La Liga starts in four campaigns.

He has been free of serious injuries thus far in the US, racking up 26 MLS starts since his move just over a year ago. And, playing regularly again, he has adapted well to the demands of playing in a foreign league for the first time in his career. He has scored twice already this season, a tally he has eclipsed only once before, while his return of four assists is just one shy of his career best.

“The playing style in MLS is different than in La Liga,” he says. “La Liga is superior to MLS in playing style. You are talking about one of the best leagues in the world alongside the Premier League; it is hard to compare.

“La Liga has a bit more of an emphasis on tactical styles. In the United States, football is the fifth sport; a lot of people do not grow up with the passion for football. However, that is rapidly changing. MLS is growing, it is evolving. I hope to continue seeing it grow.”

Illarramendi’s new life in Dallas has even given him a sense of sympathy toward David Moyes, under whom he briefly worked at Real Sociedad. He admits he never saw the video of the Scottish manager comically mispronouncing his name during a press conference, but his own battles with the language barrier make him inclined to give his old gaffer a pass for botching him multisyllabic moniker.

“I have come to the United States and have to speak a different language,” Illarramendi says. “I did not see the video [of Moyes]. At the end of the day, it is understandable.”