The midfielder’s contract with Real Sociedad is expiring, and while he has been offered an extension by the Spanish club, he has yet to sign it, partly due to his desire to move to Arsenal.
Despite frequent rumours suggesting that he is already set to join Arsenal, the Gunners have not officially moved to secure the deal. This situation is now causing concern for Real Sociedad.
The Spanish club recently managed to convince Martin Zubimendi to stay and is keen to resolve Merino’s future as well. With the new season approaching quickly, Sociedad is eager to get clarity on Merino’s situation.
According to El Diario Vasco, Arsenal’s delay in making an official approach is causing anxiety for Sociedad, who want to finalise Merino’s future sooner rather than later.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Even Arsenal fans do not understand the delays in making Merino one of our players and hope this saga ends sooner rather than later, so that we can focus on other targets.
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It’s not happening arsenal aren’t buying anyone that’s my opinion I could b wrong they just don’t like spending loo even though I support them
I think the pertinent question isn’t why there hasn’t been an approach for Merino as much as who is the midfielder Arsenal are wanting to acquire as Plan A? (with Merino actually being Plan B)
imo, if Merino were the top target as has been assumed for weeks the deal would have already been done and dusted. Once again I believe the media speculation has led gooners astray from what’s actually happening behind the scenes.
This Merino rumour is reminding me of the Youri Tielemans to Arsenal one. Exactly the same vibes.
😊
I want to believe the transfer delay was intentional and will happened on deadline days to force them to accept what we intend to pay.
Most Arsenal transfers do drag on really, recently Calafiori was the same. The negotiations are there for sure, as confirmed by all reliable journos. It’s frustrating for the supporters but Edu knows better.
Going by our pre-season tactics, I think Merino is expected to arrive. The tactics seem tailormade for player like Merino to slot in seamlessly.
agreed, Arteta seems to trying to replicate the Odegaard/Saka/White type triangle on the left with Havertz/Trossard/Jesus, Merino fits very well to be member of that left hand side triangle, i.e. Merino/Trossard/Havertz
Calafiori providing ball carrying penetration on the left and defensive security, and a reborn Zinc
last season it was Arsenal left hand side that was the weakness both offensively and defensively, the right action has been taken to restore the left to being a powerhouse equal to the right
that means a more productive left side in terms of goals, but importantly closes down opponent tactics of targeting our left, e.g. Bayern allowed us the left open to close down our right, that will not been option anymore
we also saw opponents target our defensive weakness on the left, again no more
an equally powerful goal threat left and right becomes very difficult to defend, double marking all just not possible, there will be gaps and we know Havertz off the ball movement is superb and creating and exploiting those gaps
a big name target man striker just does not fit the Arteta system, one that relies on rotating roles and intuition between players, fans will rightly argue we need a back-up plan if Plan A doesn’t work against the low block, and I agree with that but Edu/Arteta do not strike me as spending £80m to £100m on that back-up plan (quite frankly the wrangling over a couple of million for Merino and Calafiori suggest Arsenal just doesn’t have that sort of money anyway, and £25m for Nketiah does not radically change that), instead a versatile youngster who can play across the front three and much much cheaper the more likely outcome, the two lads at Brighton for instance
To avoid FFP problems I suspect we need to sell Nketiah before we buy Merino.
That’s probably the truth of it Grandad, and why we’ve not gone after a striker yet.
if FFP/PSR is the constraint, and I suspect it is, e.g. the Raya loan to buy last window suggested we were already up against it before this window even opened
if Nketiah funds are needed just to get Merino in then we really are very close to the limit again this window
in which case Arsenal are absolutely no where near the £80m to £100m new striker territory and may as well forget it this window
Who knows the reason why.
Their list has been sorted for a while, as they have already determined the positions and players they wanted, according to Edu and Arteta.
I believe this is reinforced further by Edu’s comment about “Fans being happy at the close of this window.”
We must continue to wait to see the final squad.