As of writing this article, the Gunners are reported to be in advance stages of signing Spain international Mikel Merino, with Edu also reported to be in Spain finalizing the transfer it is therefore only a matter of time before we welcome him to North London. Having helped his country to a Euros win this summer. We would be hoping he can replicate some of those moments in an Arsenal shirt this campaign. Given how close the transfer is reported to be, here are the pros and cons of signing the Pamplona native.
Pros
1. Duel winning machine: It’s no secret that Arteta loves a player who wins duels and Merino is a perfect example of that sort of player, he’s as combative as they come. This perfectly reflected in the stats too, having 7.29 ball recoveries per 90 (94th percentile) also winning 5.99 aerials per 90 as well (99th percentile). If we were to get him in then we’ll have an even good mixture of the nitty gritty and flamboyance in our midfield.
2. Ball retention and counter pressing: all elite teams love to have the ball back as soon as they lose it, whether in their own Defensive third or further up. This is exactly where Merino thrives, in the attacking third in particular. Last season he had on average 0.6 tackles in the attacking third per 90 (99th percentile). This not only helps with ball retention, it also leads to more goal scoring opportunities when winning the ball in the opponents third.
Other pros are his late runs in box, set piece threat and foul winning ability.
Cons
1. Age: Arsenal have held an interest for this player for a while now but didn’t complete the transfer sooner given doubts about his age. Having just turned 28 back in June he can be considered to be still in his prime, however given that we mostly sign players much younger with the hopes of long term sustainability and resale value then his age might actually be a stumbling block.
2. Progressive carries: progressive carries are just one of the key traits a modern day midfielder should have, his possession stats in general leaves you expecting more with ball carrying particularly giving me second thoughts about this transfer. He ranked low in progressive carries (0.93 per 90), which has him in the 32nd percentile among midfielders last season), total carrying distance and carries into the final third.
However looking at it with perspective, you could say that Sociedad’s playing style and Manager’s instructions might have played a part in this but till we get to see him up close in an Arsenal shirt, who knows.
The other con to this transfer are his passing stats.
Given his impressive Defensive numbers, might he actually be played as our deepest lying midfielder ?
KENNETH BENJAMIN.
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Well written article. The pros are on point as I have tried to follow Merino for a while. On the Cons, I think Soceidal style of pay limited him somewhat considering how he played for Spain in Euros. It would almost be impossible to score 9 goals last season without progressing the ball. If true, he can be improved at Arsenal.DRice playing for Westham, wasn’t fantastic progressing the ball as he often plays NO6 and same with Xhaka, but Arteta improved them.
Most Spanish midfielders are good with the ball on their fit. I think Merino will do well for us and at 6.2ft it’s a physical advantage in Epl he isn’t a fragile player.
My worry is how soon he can adapt to Arsenal style of play Odegard coming from Sociedal took him a season to get into gear.
In the last couple of seasons we have been signing a lot of big players who are more than capable of playing a bit – Calafiori, Rice, Havertz. We are becoming a very solid unit.
He will obviously play the left-sided AM role, based on his YouTube highlights showing his performances for Sociedad and Spain
I liked his composure and decisions in tight spaces, based on the footages. He’s also quite tall and strong, so Saka/ Odegaard could direct their long diagonal crosses to Havertz and him
Arsenal is so far down the “signing-Merino road” now that any “cons” will just have to be worked around as necessary. Given there’s been so much time and effort put in already, let’s just get him signed.
On that, it seems his club are playing hard ball over the fee (surprise, surprise). They couldn’t be anything to do, I wonder, with the fact that time is fast running out in the window, and they pretty well know that Arsenal couldn’t go to a “Plan B” now even if they wanted to. The perils of leaving negotiations late.
Always on the negative for Arsenal, but when we leave it late for clubs coming for our players, you and some of our fans here still criticize Arsenal and not the other club. Some here always end up criticizing Arsenal no matter what. We might finally get the £30m we want for Nketiah as we are rumoured to have turned down Forest’s first bid of £25m for him yesterday. About two weeks ago, you said were lucky to get £23m from OM and criticized Arsenal for playing hardball.
I don’t think there are any serious cons regarding him as a player. I think he’s a very well rounded and robust midfielder – maybe he’s not great at running with the ball, but his touch is good and he’s clever enough to make to for it. The only cons might be to do with how fitting him in affects the rest of the team because we’ll need to change it – there are plenty of pros in that regard also. Just depends how arteta changes rice’s role, and others, to make it work. I’m quite sure there’s a good plan for that tbh, but even if not, the worst case scenario is that he’ll greatly improve our squad depth imo.
Last season I was terrified of a rice injury – that would have derailed our season because I really think missing him for more than a game would have ended in another defeat. I do think merino is good enough to cover if we need to leave out rice at any point – it would allow us to rest him, and I don’t think we had that luxury before
Agree with the first part. Perhaps with regard to the second. I hope he is good enough cover if necessary. It would certainly be nice if we could rest Rice without too much vulnerability.
👍
He is a similar sort of signing to Trossard, an older player but still improving and hungry for success and available for a reasonable fee. I can see him playing a similar role in the squad, even if he is not straight into the first eleven he will be pushing damn hard for a spot.
At that price, we cannot say no.
But when we leave it late for clubs coming for our players, you and some of our fans here still criticize Arsenal and not the other club. Some here always end up criticizing Arsenal no matter what. We might finally get the £30m we want for Nketiah as we are rumoured to have turned down Forest’s first bid of £25m for him yesterday. About two weeks ago, you said were lucky to get £23m from OM and criticized Arsenal for playing hardball.
The way this Merino deal is dragging is very concerning. It could just collapse on our heads.
I hope Arsenal have an alternative plan for such an eventuality.
Reading about the Sociedad hierarchy insisting that their asking price must be met does not augur well for this deal. They are not sounding like a club that is talking about a 28-year old player on the last year of his contract.
not a con as such, but is Merino solid enough to #6 defensive midfield, i think he primarily has been brought in as #8 left attacking midfield, we have more depth at #8 than #6, but a minor point
my hope is Merino is being brought in to re-invent our under-performing left hand side, Calafiori also being left sided is no coincidence I am sure
i don’t know the exact stats (if someone does please say) in terms of left hand side goal productivity in 22/23 PL season vs 23/24, but my gut feel is 10 goals down
or the comparison between right hand side goals and left hand side goals last season, again could easily be 10 goals, or more
my point is I think Arteta/Edu first priority recruitment steps this window (apologies new striker obsessives) was addressing the left hand to build an attacking equal to the right hand side – think Merino/Martinelli/Calafiori combining on the left like Odegaard/Saka/White combine on the right
if it works and left hand side restored to a potent attacking force it is not just >10 additional goals, it also take pressure and attention off the right as opponents have the impossible task of covering goal threats on both flanks from 6 or 7 goal scorers, double marking will leave gaps somewhere else
this is a higher probability, lower cost strategy to adding unpredictability and goals (vs £80m to £100m on one target man)
doesn’t mean another forward option not welcome, and still a possibility it might happen once the left hand side top priority dealt with, just unlikely to be the big name, big money marquee signing lusted for, may be a younger more versatile forward not [yet] a household name…
Well said 1886
If and when he comes it will be interesting to see what MA has in mind for him. My initial thought was left side of midfield but he could also play 6 if Rice does not play there. I prefer Rice as a 6 though, Rice could play with more freedom to drive forward once we replace Zinchenko with either Timber or Cali’.
Fairly sure he will play 8 with Rice reverting to 6 and Partey gone.
Pick three, drop two
Odegaard
Merino
Partey
Rice
Jourginho
Jorg can only cover 6, Ode 10 maybe 8, Rice 8 and 6, Partey 8 and 6. Kai is first cover at 10, can cover 8. don’t forget Viera as cover at 10 and 8.
Merino very versatile, 8, 6 and 10. And CB in a crisis.
The guy is not even an Arsenal player yet!
Exactly.
I can see how this plays out with Merino signing for Man City. Firstly Arsenal’s contract agreement with Merino, and the players apparent determination to come, means absolute zilch if Man City come calling – they can off him better finance and more trophies in the last big move of his career. Secondly, and crazy as this first sounds, Man City need Merino more than Arsenal. He is this perfect back up to Rodri, Merino being versatile doesn’t have to sit on bench backing up Rodri – as the awesome but one position Zubimendi had to during the Euro’s, Merino can play in the same midfield as Rodri, simply take the position and duty’s whenever Rodri is missing. Thirdly, Arsenal just have too much recent form for transfer saga’s, eggs in one basket, wasting time, eventually missing out by not paying extra few mil what’s asked for or the lump sum up front, and likely naively believe they have upper hand on £25M deal, with Merino in last year – but one international call from Pep and Arsenal are scrambling through back up plans, again, for they are deffo too light in midfield.
When Merino is wearing City blue, remember where you heard it first.