After finishing sixth in LaLiga and missing out on the Champions League, Real Sociedad will head into the 2024/25 without their top-performing player of the previous campaign, center midfielder Mikel Merino.
Despite that, there are still plenty of great Real Sociedad players worth knowing and watching closely next season – and not just because a couple of them could be headed to “bigger” European clubs.
Before the 2024/25 LaLiga season gets under way, let’s take a look at a handful of the best Real Sociedad players every world football fan needs to know.
AM Takefusa Kubo
Takefusa Kubo has to be the most recognizable name in the Real Sociedad squad, as he is legitimately one of the most exciting players to watch in world football because of his acceleration, close control, and emerging eye for goal.
Just 23 years old despite having five seasons of top-level LaLiga experience under his belt since his first loan from Real Madrid to Mallorca in 2019, Kubo has blossomed in San Sebastian after earning an actual transfer from Real Madrid, where minutes were too crowded for the Japanese international.
Kubo first broke out as a real LaLiga Player of the Season contender in the 2022/23 season when La Real flirted with the possibility of the league title, and he finished that season with 9 goals and 4 assists.
Although Kubo scored fewer goals, 7, last season, the Real Sociedad playmaker actually had a better campaign across the board with more key passes, dribbles completed, and fouls drawn per game than the previous campaign.
CM Brais Mendez
Brais Mendez came to Real Sociedad in 2022 as one of the best up-and-coming technicians in Spanish football, though he was overshadowed by Celta Vigo legend Iago Aspas.
After posting nine goal contributions in each of his final two seasons in Vigo, Mendez exploded as a LaLiga Player of the Season candidate for La Real in 2022/23 in the first half of the campaign.
Mendez has posted double-digit goal contributions in each of his first two seasons at Real Sociedad, creating chances and progressing the ball while helping the team defensively.
Slick with his skills in the middle of the park, Mendez is a versatile starter who brings flair to the midfield and adds that extra element of surprise to a Real Sociedad side that has become one of Europe’s most entertaining under Imanol Alguacil.
DM Martin Zubimendi
Martin Zubimendi is being courted by clubs as big as Arsenal, Manchester United, and Barcelona, as every top European club with an opening for a new No. 6 is – and should be – eager to add a player of Zubimendi’s quality.
It may be even more difficult for a team to pry Zubimendi away from San Sebastian with Merino set to join Arsenal, though Gunners fans will dream of the two reuniting in North London.
As it stands, Zubimendi has shown the utmost loyalty to Real Sociedad and Alguacil’s project despite the rumors, committing to his future with La Real and comfortable in this beautiful city.
Zubimendi is a complete player at the base of the midfield and one of the few defensive midfielders in world football who can truly play at a high level in all phases as a free-standing 6 or single pivot.
Just last season, Zubi averaged 1.6 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game in LaLiga with four goals as a bonus, and his Champions League numbers carried over pretty well with a completion percentage close to 88,
Takefusa Kubo is the most recognizable and exciting player on Real Sociedad, but if you ask most people who watch this club on a weekly basis, Zubimendi is the best and most valuable, especially with how rare and in-demand 6’s like him are now.
LW Mikel Oyarzabal
Now, in theory, Mikel Oyarzabal should be the best player on Real Sociedad, because his finishing and technical quality can be put up against anyone in Spanish football.
The thing is, Oyarzabal hasn’t been at his best level since a horrible ACL tear in the 2021/22 season, basically suffering a similar fate to Italian star Federico Chiesa – a case that is becoming sadly common in modern football.
Oyarzabal is a rare breed in the modern game as a left-footed left winger who primarily scores goals, but his playing style fits exactly what Real Sociedad are all about, especially with how he leads by example up front.
Even after the injury, Oyarzabal has been useful to La Real despite losing some juice in his knee after effectively losing two seasons of his career, because he can still make a different in the final third with 9 goals and 3 assists in the 2023/24 LaLiga season.
Oyarzabal has never scored fewer than 9 goals in a single season in which he was fully healthy since 2017, and he even had one campaign with double-digit goals and double-digit assists.
Hopefully, Oyarzabal can make more progress on the fitness front in 2024/25 at the age of 27, because Spanish football is much better off when Oyarzabal is knifing through defenses and scoring bangers – and there’s so much upside for him with Kubo and Mendez in the side, too.
GK Alex Remiro
Alex Remiro has consistently been one of the better starting goalkeepers in LaLiga over the past several seasons, allowing a goal per game or less in each of his last four campaigns.
In the last three seasons, Remiro’s save percentage has never been lower than 74.4, and you can regularly find him on highlight reels posting one of the best saves of the week in the league.
Just last season, Remiro’s 76.2 save percentage ranked third in LaLiga, and he was also fifth in the league in goals allowed per 90 minutes, entrenching himself as one of the top players at the position in Spanish football.
Real Sociedad have a goalkeeper they can count on in Remiro, and when he’s feeling it, there are stretches of time when he is playing at as high of a level as any shot-stopper in LaLiga.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.
