ARSENAL TRANSFER TALK: 'World-class' player is ready to join Arsenal, he's already told his club he wants to leave

Arsenal have received a big boost in the race to sign one of their key targets this summer.

The Gunners haven’t done anything with respect to incomings in this window apart from turning David Raya’s loan move into a permanent deal.

However, Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar are working really hard behind the scenes to get new players in, and they have been linked with plenty of names.

One player Arteta is really keen to sign in this window is now said to be open to a move to the Emirates Stadium this summer.

Here’s the latest on the situation.

Mikel Merino is open to joining Arsenal but there’s a problem

Mikel Merino is a key target for Arsenal.

The Real Sociedad star has had a good Euro 2024 campaign with Spain and has helped them reach the final of the competition. Even though he isn’t a regular starter, he has played his part.

Once the final is over on Sunday, all eyes will be on the midfielder’s future.

Reports have claimed that Arteta is personally convincing Merino to join Arsenal this summer. The Gunners boss is really keen to sign him.

The 28-year-old has entered the final year of his contract, and reports have claimed that Real Sociedad want to sell Merino immediately.

Now, Football Transfers have claimed that Merino is open to signing for Arsenal.

The report claims that the ‘world-class‘ midfielder has already told Real Sociedad that he wants to leave the club this summer, and Arsenal are interested in signing him.

However, it has been revealed that Arsenal are only willing to pay €25 million (£21m) to get him because of his contract situation.

That could prove to be a problem as Tutto Juve have revealed that Sociedad are demanding €40 million (£33m) to sell him this summer.

Arteta originally wanted to sign Merino’s teammate

Arsenal’s interest in Merino is a bit of a surprise.

The Spaniard is 28 years old already, which is a bit old for the profile the Gunners usually sign. Reports have claimed that Arteta had to convince the Arsenal board to change their transfer philosophy for Merino because he wants to sign him so much.

However, Arsenal’s initial plan wasn’t to sign Merino – they actually wanted Martin Zubimendi.

The report claims that ‘Merino’s name first came into conversation during Arsenal’s talks to sign’ Zubimendi, who has been on their radar for a long, long time.

That move looks unlikely in this window, which is why they have turned their attention to Merino, who is a brilliant player himself.