Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal finished in second place in the Premier League with the club missing out on the Premier League title to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Heading into the summer, a new midfielder was one of Arsenal’s top targets with Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi understood to be the Gunners’ top target.
However, a deal looks difficult with HITC reporting that the Gunners were prepared to look at different targets and it appears they have settled on a potential target.
Arsenal keen on midfielder who could replace Granit Xhaka
Sources have told HITC that Arsenal, alongside Barcelona are in talks with Mikel Merino and the Spanish midfielder is now ready to depart Sociedad.
The 28-year-old has just 12-months left on his current deal and HITC has been told that Sociedad are pushing Merino to make a decision on whether he is staying or going.
Merino has been given the stamp of approval by manager Mikel Arteta and the former Newcastle United midfielder, unlike Zubimendi, is seen as a plausible option this summer.
A robust and powerful operator, Merino has been excellent for Sociedad over the past couple of years, and featured seven times in the Champions League last term. As well as this, he netted the decisive goal against Germany in the quarter-final.
Rafa Benitez brought Merino to the Premier League and hailed his ‘quality’ on the ball in an interview with AS a month ago.
A move to Arsenal for Merino could well be the replacement for Granit Xhaka, who departed the Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2023 to join Bayer Leverkusen.
Merino could be a brilliant midfield partner for Declan Rice
The time was certainly right for Swiss midfielder Xhaka to depart the Emirates Stadium, despite Arteta wanting the midfielder to stay.
Xhaka had a love-hate relationship with the Arsenal fanbase, with some of his antics on the field drawing the ire of fans of the Gunners.
Arsenal’s midfield has not looked the same without Xhaka. Declan Rice has been a brilliant addition to the midfield but it has always looked as if the Englishman has missed someone alongside him.
Like Xhaka, Merino would bring balance to the midfield with his left-footedness a key element that would benefit the midfield.
His physicality and powerful nature would lead to a potentially strong midfield alongside Rice and with just 12 months left on his contract, the Gunners could sign the Spaniard for a decent price.
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