As first reported by David Ornstein of Athletic, Arsenal have reached an agreement with Real Sociedad to sign midfielder Mikel Merino.
The fee is believed to be £28.4m (€33.5m) with up to £4.2m (€5m) in variable add-ons.
Merino only has one year left on his contract with the txuri-urdin and was left out of the squad to face Rayo Vallecano at the Reale Arena last Sunday, and coach Imanol Alguacil confirmed that this was due to “open conversations with other clubs,” as he noted. Simon Collings of the Evening Standard.
Fabrizio Romano on Twitter He added that Merino has reached a personal agreement and will sign a four-year contract in north London. Romano also says the midfielder “just wanted Arsenal” and is willing to travel to London to undergo a medical.
HITC Claims Arsenal have already scheduled Merino to undergo a medical on Friday, so it is expected that transfer To be finalized soon.
Who is Mikel Merino?
After starting his career at Osasuna, his hometown club, having been born and raised in Pamplona, Merino left for Borussia Dortmund at the age of 20, but only spent one season in Germany, making just nine appearances for the Schwarzgelben.
The 1.88-metre midfielder was loaned to Newcastle United before signing permanently for then Magpies manager Rafa Benitez, but similarly featured on just 25 occasions for the Toon Army, his only goal being a towering header that proved to be the last-minute winner against Crystal Palace in October 2017.
The following summer, Merino returned to the north of Spain and joined Real Sociedad for around €12m, and has been with Real ever since, appearing 242 times for them, helping the club win the Copa del Rey in 2021, starting the 1-0 final victory over fierce Basque rivals Athletic Club at the Estadio de La Cartuja.
At international level, he won Olympic silver in 2021 before also lifting the UEFA Nations League and European Championship trophies in the past year, coming off the bench in both finals; his key contribution to Spain's success last summer was an extra-time goal against Germany in the quarter-finals.
As described Sid Lowe from the GuardianMerino's celebration, which saw him spin around the corner flag, was a tribute to his father Ángel Miguel Merino, who had performed the same celebration after scoring at the same stadium 33 years earlier during a UEFA Cup tie between Osasuna and Stuttgart.
Where will Mikel Merino fit in at Arsenal?
Mikel Merino arrives at Arsenal to essentially replace Granit Xhaka, 12 months after the Swiss international left for Bayer Leverkusen.
Initially, the plan was that Kai Havertz to fill the now infamous 'left eight' role, completing a midfield trio that includes Declan Rice at the base and with Martin Ødegaard moving to the right.
However, it turns out that Havertz is far more effective as a number nine, starting there against Wolves on the opening weekend, with Thomas Partey in midfield; both the Ghanaian and Jorginho, aged 31 and 32 respectively, are out of contract at the end of this season, so that area of the pitch will need refreshing and replenishing.
As he pointed out OptaJoe on TwitterMerino won more duels (326) than any other player in Europe's big five leagues last season, while only Cádiz's Chris Ramos won more aerial duels: 174 to 168.
In that context, this signing makes perfect sense, because if there's one thing we learned from Arsenal's All or Nothing, Mikel Arteta He loves to win duels!
