Fabrizio Romano relays big Mikel Merino update amid Arsenal links

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal are preparing for another big season in which they will hope to finally win the Premier League title for the first time since 2004.

The Gunners will also be in the Champions League for the second year in a row and will hope to go further than the quarter-final stage.

Arsenal have been fairly busy on the transfer front this summer, bringing in one new senior signing in Riccardo Calafiori and allowing a number of players to leave.

Now, the Gunners are reportedly making good progress in pursuit of another player, one of the brightest midfielders in European football.

Fabrizio Romano has just dropped a big update on the player in question, which could bode very well indeed for Arsenal.

READ MORE: £30m Arsenal player has just got closer to leaving, Edu happy to accept lower price

Arsenal target Mikel Merino set to miss next Real Sociedad game

The player in question is Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino, and Romano has relayed the news that he will not be in the squad for Thursday’s match against Union Berlin.

Romano also spoke about Martin Zubimendi, who is in the squad amid links with Liverpool, but the key news is that Merino has not been called up.

The transfer insider added that talks between Arsenal and Sociedad are advanced and still ongoing, with clarification needed on the deal structure and payment terms.

It has been reported that the deal will cost Arsenal around £25million.

Merino ‘the type of midfielder Arteta would create in a lab’

Arsenal could do with bolstering their midfield ranks this summer, especially since Albert Sambi Lokonga has left on loan and Emile Smith Rowe has been sold to Fulham.

Now, it looks as though the Gunners are closing in on the signing of Merino, who boasts an impressive CV.

Merino has excelled with Spain throughout his career, winning Euro 2024, the Nations Cup and two Euros at age level, plus a Spanish Cup with Sociedad and a German Cup with Borussia Dortmund.

In terms of his style of play, The Guardian says Merino is ‘the type of midfielder Arteta would create in a lab if given the chance.’

They continued: ‘He is press-resistant, creative, combative and, above all, a duel-winning machine; Merino won more aerial duels (168) than any other midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues last season.

‘Like Rice, who Arsenal paid around £105m for last summer, Merino is an impressively complete midfielder.

‘He can step forward as a No 8 and lead the press, as the Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard often does, but he can also defend deep as a No 6 when required, whether that be alongside another player or on his own.’