Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino has officially joined Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta has expressed his excitement over the “experience and versatility” the Spain midfielder will bring to the team.
Mikel Arteta’s vision of building a actually brilliant Weapons store side who can too physically overwhelm adversaries has been assist boosted by the marking of Merino
Although the amount is unknown, it is believed that Arsenal has paid an initial €32.5 million (£27.4 million), with further €5 million that might bring the total to £31.6 million.
Like numerous of his unused team-mates, the 6ft 2in Spain universal weds those qualities excellently.
The previous Genuine Sociedad man is able to play as a left-sided box-to-box midfielder or in a more protective part, and will give Arteta with combativeness, quality and strategic variety.
A second chance in the Premier League
During the 2017/18 season, Merino included for Newcastle Joined together beneath Rafael Benitez, on advance from Borussia Dortmund.
It was not a spell that lives long in the memory, but when you see back at his protective numbers from that campaign, it is momentous he made as it were 24 Head Alliance appearances, and fair 14 begins, some time recently going back to Dortmund and at that point being sold to Genuine Sociedad.
Compared with other Head Alliance midfielders who made a least of 10 begins that season, a 21-year-old Merino positioned interior the beat 10 in numerous categories.
In a sign of things to come, Merino was positioned to begin with for duels won per 90 minutes among midfielders in the 2017/18 Head Alliance, with 10.12.
That figure is as it were fair bashful of the 11.8 per 90 he won final season for Genuine Sociedad, giving him the best count among players over Europe’s best five leagues.
It is a essential reason why Arteta needed to enlist a player who has been named a “duel monster”.
Gazing upon the Euros
Merino was a substitute in barely half of his seven appearances for Spain at UEFA EURO 2024..
The 28-year-old’s highlight was a magnificent soaring header in the 119th minute that advanced his team to the semifinals at Germany’s cost.
Boosting the title contest
With Merino joining the team, Arsenal will have even more talent in this area given the abundance of tall, skilled, and tactically astute players on the team.
He has to improve on his 77.3% pass accuracy in open play, since he behind Rice, Jorginho, and Partey (all of whom had accurate distribution rates of about 90% last season) in this regard.
Nonetheless, Arteta will undoubtedly profit greatly by the Spaniard’s ability to win balls, his tactical acumen, and his strength in both ends as he attempts to surpass all previous champions and claim a Premier League championship.
It is common to see Rice, Merino, and Odegaard—a little more practical midfield trio—named in the starting lineup during Arsenal’s most challenging games.
It appears like Merino is prepared to have a more significant influence during his second Premier League season since he is a perfect match for his new team.
