Mikel Merino: A sensible signing in a key position

There’s only one place to start this morning and that’s the official arrival of Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad.

It’s not exactly a bolt from the blue, but certainly a welcome addition to a squad that needs it after the departures of Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira from midfield. He’s 28 years of age, with plenty of experience having played in Spain, England and Germany, and I think that aspect is a key reason why we’ve brought him in.

Typically, Arsenal have recruited younger in recent years, with the odd exception like Leandro Trossard and Jorginho, but when you think about how to augment a squad that came so close to winning the title last season, a player of Merino’s profile makes a lot of sense. He won’t need months to get up to speed and to come to terms with that Mikel Arteta will ask of him. He is basically ready to go, and I think there’s (mostly) genuine clarity as to his role in this team.

As a ball-winning, duel-monstering 8, he’ll slot into the midfield in the space that Granit Xhaka left when he departed. Declan Rice has played there a lot of late, but I suspect that as the season goes on (and form and fitness allows/dictates), he’ll shift back a bit and that trio of Merino, Rice and Martin Odegaard will be the de facto first choice. Of course things can happen that we don’t expect – see one K.Havertz for evidence of that – but that’s where I think we’ll see him.

I watched his video on the official site, and aside from his impeccable English, you can see there’s a seriousness about him and what he wants from this move at a relatively late stage in his career. He says:

“I wouldn’t move to a club that are not aligned with my desires. What I want is to grow, to win, to fulfil my dreams and I think this club has the same mentality. This is something I value a lot. I value a lot the work they put in every single day.”

Is the price a little steep? Probably, but then if he comes in and plays well, I don’t think that will be a discussion point at all. You’ll remember people raising more than just an eyebrow at £50m for Ben White a few years ago, nobody ever talks about what we paid for him now. So, it’s down to the player to perform, and as I said above, this is a very good player with vast experience who should be able to more or less able hit the ground running.

He knows Odegaard from the season the skipper spent on loan at Real Sociedad, Kieran Tierney too, and the fact he’s spent time in England (Newcastle!), means he should have no issues settling into life in London. Also, at 6’2 he’s another big lad to add to an already big team, Nicolas Jover must be delighted with the idea of another guy in the opposition box who can win headers, and the imposing physical size of this Arsenal side is 100% deliberate.

So, all in all, a signing I’m very happy with, and we’ll wait and see if he’s involved for the weekend. I suspect the bench for Brighton, but after that I’m sure he’ll be pushing to start. For more on Mikel Merino as a player, you can check our new signing podcast over on Patreon, and Phil has his profile piece on our new number 23 on the site as well.

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So, now we wait to see if anything else happens before the end of the window. With a little over 2 days until the window closes, there isn’t a lot of time to get anything done. There don’t appear to be any concrete links with anyone realistic at this moment in time, but let’s hope they’re working hard in the background on someone to add to the attacking line-up. The longer it goes though, the more you worry there won’t be anyone. Or, perhaps, they’re prepared to wait for the player they really want if they’re not available in this window.

Beyond that, we’ll wait for confirmation of Eddie Nketiah’s move to Crystal Palace, and Fabio Vieira’s loan to Porto. Southampton were in for Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow but that move has apparently broken down due to concerns over his injury record, so does that put them back in the picture for Aaron Ramsdale? Let’s see how it goes.

For now, have a good one.

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