Arsenal agree $42.8 million deal for Mikel Merino: What does Real Sociedad star bring to Gunners?

Arsenal and Real Sociedad are finalizing an agreement for the permanent transfer of Mikel Merino in a deal worth up to $42.8 million, according to CBS Sports sources. The Spain midfielder is expected to travel to London imminently once the formalities of the club to club agreement have been addressed. Once there he will complete his medical at the Gunners’ London Colney training base before putting pen to paper on a four-year contract with an option for a further 12 months.

Talks between Arsenal and La Real accelerated last week with the latter accepting that Merino would not sign the extension they hoped to agree on a contract that was due to expire at the end of the season. The central midfielder was left out of the squad for the season opener against Rayo Vallecano last week, coach Imanol Alguacil acknowledging the impending departure of a player he termed “the best midfielder in La Liga.”

CBS Sports first reported on Arsenal’s interest in Merino in July, the 28-year-old European champion serving the Gunners’ desire to deepen Mikel Arteta’s squad with starter-level talent. The former Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund man could prove to be exactly that, a player who has registered over 2,000 La Liga minutes in each of the last six seasons for a side who have consistently been one of Spain’s top six. His form at club level has been rewarded with 28 caps for Spain, for whom he headed the winner against Germany in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals.

That aerial strength is one of Merino’s stand-out qualities. In the last three full La Liga seasons only two players — target forwards Joselu and Vedat Muriqi — won more duels in the air than the 6-foot-2 midfield man from Pamplona. If, as expected, Merino sees the bulk of his minutes as the ‘left eight’ in Arsenal’s midfield, he will see plenty of opportunities to deploy those qualities in the opposition penalty areas, providing the sort of late runs into the box from deep that Kai Havertz was signed to deliver before he proved himself to be more adept at center forward.

For the most part at Real Sociedad Merino has not been tasked with great attacking output, averaging 1.34 shots per 90 across those past three seasons, nor do his passing numbers particularly catch the eye. However, the Spain international has generally been deployed in much the same role he might be expected to fill for Arsenal. He profiles as the player who sits in between the deeper lying conductor and a more orthodox playmaker, Martin Zubimendi and Brais Mendez for La Real, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard for Arsenal.

That means filling in the round the edges, keeping the ball moving, winning it back and contributing in helpful areas. His average of 4.49 ball recoveries in the midfield third is bettered only by Sergio Busquets and Geoffrey Kondogbia. His shot numbers might be fairly low but Merino does get himself touches in the box and last season only Mendez and Takefusa Kubo were involved in more of La Real’s possession sequences that ended in shots. Merino’s are a curious set of skills but a player that can receive the ball in the box a lot, win it back in defense while not carrying a huge possession burden is what Arteta spent much of the last two seasons trying to get from Granit Xhaka and Havertz. Last season there did not seem to be anyone better than Merino at doing it.

Given the success that Odegaard has made of his time at the Gunners, it was no surprise to see Arsenal return to the well in San Sebastian this season. Their scouts were regularly at the Anoeta Stadium, tracking the progress of Zubimendi, Ander Barrenetxea, Merino and their own loanee Kieran Tierney. 

Arsenal’s interest in Merino is believed to date back to a run of impressive performances in Real’s table-topping run through Champions League Group D. By the time he jetted off to Euro 2024, Arsenal’s interest was well established and known to Merino though it was not formalized until the former Newcastle man returned from a post-tournament holiday. Given that Arsenal were not exactly short of midfield options heading into the season, there was no rush to force a deal. La Real did, however, ultimately receive a premium price for a veteran in the last 12 months of his contract with $37.2 million of the fee guaranteed.

For that sum, Arsenal are deepening their midfield options at the very least. It could well be that before too long Merino is the established left eight and Rice returns to the role at the base of midfield where he began his time with the club. That could bring difficulties. Rice’s possession qualities are occasionally understated but he is not as progressive a passer as Jorginho or Thomas Partey. Playing Oleksandr Zinchenko at left back might mitigate some of that but Arsenal’s summer spending of over $130 million has also encompassed the addition of Riccardo Calafiori, who will be vying with the Ukrainian, Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu for minutes on the left flank.

Those, however, are luxury problems for Arteta to have, comfortably offset by the potential upsides of their new midfielders. Imagine, for instance, that an opposition breaks through the pugnacious first line of Arsenal’s press, led by the rangy Havertz and the precise Odegaard. Their reward for doing so would be to smash into Rice and Merino, two six-foot-plus dynamos who year in, year out dominate their duels. On a good day for the Gunners, the other would be doing well to even get a look at William Saliba.

Aggression and dominance have been the watch words of Arteta’s tenure, so much in fact that they were beamed up on the Emirates Stadium scoreboard before matches last season. Merino is only going to help his new manager turn those words into actions.