Now, Mikel Arteta can speak openly about his new player, Mikel Merino. After long weeks of negotiations, in which the Spanish coach has been a key figure in getting the then Real Sociedad midfielder to give his yes to leaving Anoeta, andArsenal have officially signed the current European champions to the Spanish national team.
At 28, Mikel Merino will return to the Premier League after the team gunner have paid 32 million euros fixed, and another five million agreed in variables. And he will do so with a four-season contract, until 2028, and the option to extend it for one more year. The third signing of the London team, after acquiring David Raya as owner and paying 45 million for the Italian defender Riccardo Calafiorifurther increasing the internal competition for the great contender to usurp the Premier League throne from Manchester City.
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Mikel Merino, who was thanked in a press conference by his now ex-coach Imanol Alguacil for his performance as a txuri-urdin player and He said he was “proud to see him now taking this step”thus ending a six-season journey defending the Real Sociedad jersey and shield. During this period, the new Arsenal player played 242 games, in which he scored 27 goals and provided 26 assists.
Although the Spanish midfielder will have to offer his best version if he wants to earn a place in a midfield that currently includes Martin Ødegaard, Declan Rice and Thomas Parteythis will not be his first experience in the Premier League. In 2017, Newcastle took the then Borussia Dortmund player on loan. During the 2017-2018 season, Mikel Merino played 25 matches with the magpies and the English team acquired the Spaniard and ended up selling him, in the summer of 2018, to Real Sociedad.
Mikel Merino thus fulfills his desire to return to the English leagueeven more so for a team like Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. Luckily, two summers later, the Spanish coach of the London team managed to find the long-awaited replacement for Granit Xhaka. With Kai Havertz definitely adapted to the false ‘9’ position, The former txuri-urdin player aims to be that physical inside player, with arrival and presence in the rival area that makes Arsenal an almost perfect team.
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