The 28-year-old is set to arrive at the Emirates Stadium in a deal that will cost Mikel Arteta's side around £31.5m, including add-ons, with Merino ready to pen a four-year deal with a one-year extension clause written in. It's believed he first caught the attention of Arsenal after his impressive Euro 2024 tournament with winners Spain, as he played in every game for La Roja on their way to a record fourth European Championship title.
He also helped his club reach the knockout stages of the Champions League where they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain, with Merino grabbing the only goal over both legs following his earlier contribution in their 3-1 group stage win over Benfica.
It'll be his second stint in England having previously arrived at Newcastle United under Rafa Benitez back in 2017, where he spent two seasons. He ended up making 25 appearances for the Magpies before joining Sociedad on a permanent deal in July 2018.
However, despite all the reports surrounding his obvious and imminent arrival at Arsenal, Arteta is adamant to not speak about his compatriot's arrival, claiming last week: "No [update]. I cannot talk about any player that's not with us. There's still time in the market. Both ways. For all the managers, for all the teams here. You can see it's getting very busy.
"I don't know soon. The full focus is on the players that we have at the moment, the big match we have at Aston Villa and that's all."
Now journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Merino has now completed his medical and the two clubs are now trading the appropriate documents and the deal is ready to be sealed.
He'll be Arsenal's third signing of the summer window after defender Riccardo Calafiori's £42m move from Bologna and goalkeeper David Raya's loan move from Brentford being made permanent to the tune of £28m. However, they're still reportedly in the market for a striker having been linked heavily with moves for Viktor Gyokeres, Ivan Toney or even Napoli striker Victor Osimhen who has been a priority target for their rivals Chelsea all summer.
0 Comments