Spanish media have already told Arsenal what must happen to Mikel Merino to unlock ‘full potential’ of Martin Zubimendi

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Arsenal have now – finally – announced the £55.8m signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad.

The deal, which has been in the pipeline since January, has now fully materialised for Mikel Arteta, who desperately needed a new central midfielder after Jorginho and Thomas Partey were released.

It sees Martin Zubimendi reunite with Mikel Merino – who he has made a whopping 169 appearances alongside in his career so far – and Spanish media outlet AS have already told Arsenal fans how the pair operate best next to one another.

Mikel Arteta told how to use Mikel Merino to unlock ‘full potential’ of Martin Zubimendi

One of the more recent of these 169 outings together came as Spain recorded a 5-4 win over France in the UEFA Nations League in June, where AS made some interesting comments about how the duo operated.

They wrote: “He (Merino) is more of a striker than a midfielder. As a striker he has played for Arsenal almost all season and every time he does it with the national team, he scores.

“When Merino advanced his position and Pedri (followed) him, that’s when he (Zubimendi) brought out his full potential.”

Zubimendi completed 36 out of 37 passes in this particular match – also making two successful tackles – while Merino scored what turned out to be the winning goal for Spain, having also made five tackles himself in what was an industrial performance.

Therefore, Arteta would be wise to take heed of this display against an international juggernaut of a football team in France, as it could be the blueprint of how to get the best from the Spanish duo in the Premier League.

Viktor Gyokeres could prevent Arsenal from using this tactic

Arsenal used Merino as a striker last season following injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus – which also prompted Spain to do likewise – but this particular tactic which AS say ‘unlocked’ Zubimendi might not be used as much next season.

Arsenal are close to signing Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP after RB Leipzig stood firm over Benjamin Sesko, and the Sweden international is a proper No.9 – remarkably scoring 97 goals in 102 games for the Portuguese giants.

Should this deal become official, however, it would most likely see Arteta refrain from using Merino as a striker – barring the odd occasion – which could impact on Zubimendi.