Mikel Merino has finally made his Arsenal debut yesterday. Gunners faced Paris Saint-Germain at their home and defeated them by 2 goal margi. Merino was introduced in the second half as a substitute for Thomas Partey.
It feels like Merino will be used as number six by Arteta. Last season he was playing as number eight as Real Sociedad had Martin Zubimendi as the defensive midfielder. Declan Rice who played most of the last season as number six is promoted by Arteta upwards on the pitch.
Gunners tried to sign Martin Zubimendi who was also chased by Liverpool. But, Zubimendi had no intention to leave Spain and hence Gunners choose to go after Merino instead. They spent around £31 million to sign him.
But, Merino was quickly injured after moving to North London. This kept him sidelined and prolonged his debut. Last night after playing his first minutes in an Arsenal shirt, Merino said he is now an official Arsenal player. He was looking very happy and said that he is buzzing after making his debut.
Mikel Merino talks about Arsenal’s training process
Merino is suprised by the training process used by Arteta. Firstly, he said that it is amazing and added that there are some things that he has never seen in his career. Later, Merino added that it will take him some time to adapt as the methods are completely new.
Merino said that the new training methods are very challenging, both physically and mentally. He said that these makes him sharp mentally and that is what we are going to witness from him. Lastly, Merino said that there is no rest between one moment and another.
Merino also talked about his injury. He said that it was an unlucky moment but he looks at it in the positive way. By positive Merino said that he got enough time to be close with new teammates and staff. His Quotes are as per The Guardian.
Now, Merino is finally back on pitch and we may see him starting matches soon. Odegaard will also join the team very soon and we will see a new Arsenal midfield trio. Merino as defensive midfielder, Rice as central midfielder and Odegaard as an attacking midfielder.
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