What Martin Odegaard actually demanded Mikel Merino to do right after his brace for Arsenal vs Leicester City

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Mikel Merino emerged as Arsenal’s unlikely saviour as he came off the bench to score a clinical brace during their 2-0 victory against Leicester City.

Previously, Merino expressed his desire to play up front and the former Real Sociedad midfielder was granted his wish by Mikel Arteta as he looked the part as an emergency striker.

Mikel Merino showcased his seemingly natural instincts as a goalscorer, patiently waiting for his chance as soon as entered the pitch.

The Spaniard’s patience was rewarded, with Ethan Nwaneri listening to Merino’s advice and delivering a pinpoint cross in the lead-up to his first goal.

Leandro Trossard also spotted a free Merino inside the box, who scored a tap-in after a simply brilliant delivery from the Belgian in what was a deserved win for Arsenal.

The European Championship winner would have been delighted after the triumph as he has had a difficult return to the Premier League so far.

• READ MORE: Mikel Merino shares when he found out from Mikel Arteta that he’d be playing up front for Arsenal

Martin Odegaard pushed Mikel Merino to celebrate during Leicester City vs Arsenal

Troy Deeney questioned Merino’s quality despite him scoring the winner in Arsenal’s 3-1 win against Brentford.

Jamie Carragher doubted whether Arsenal needed Merino as one of their summer signings.

But as all top players do, Merino did his talking on the pitch against Leicester and after scoring his second goal, Martin Odegaard pushed his teammate to do his trademark celebration in front of the fans.

The Pamplona-born dynamo proceeded to listen to Odegaard, with his celebration especially having a special meaning as it is inspired his father and former Osasuna star Angel Merino.

Interestingly, Arsenal had concerns about signing Merino when they initially deliberated over whether to make a move for him.

However, Mikel Arteta pushed to complete his countryman’s signing.

Arteta clearly seems to back Merino, as demonstrated by the fact that he was confident that the box-to-box midfielder could do a job as a centre-forward.

In the aftermath of Arsenal’s latest win, the man of the moment revealed his manager’s bold prediction as well.

Mikel Arteta said he told Merino “he was going to score” vs Leicester

Mikel Arteta revealed he told Merino he would score against Leicester before bringing him as an impact substitute when asked about his instructions to the latter, replying: “That he was going to score.”

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	24	17	6	1	58	23	35	57
2	ArsenalArsenal	25	15	8	2	51	22	29	53

Arteta added: “He’s a real goal threat. The moment they started moving deeper and we were more set in the final third, we thought he could deliver those moments. But it’s easier to say it than get it done!”

“Because of the height? They are very different. Mikel has never played as a nine. But he has that timing, that smell that he can smell danger, anticipate danger. And then he can execute it. It was a lot of debate. I didn’t want to drive him crazy. I said to him this morning that he might play there, we believe he could sit there if the game needed the context. He won the game for us.”

It’s safe to say that Mikel Arteta’s brilliant player profiling and man-management certainly did the trick for Arsenal to go on and beat Leicester City.