Mikel Arteta's side have come painfully close for two years on the trot now, and after an impressive preseason, they look ready as ever.
However, fans will be hoping that the club will get some more business done before the transfer window slams shut in a couple of weeks to give them the best chance of lifting that trophy come May.
arsenal-mikel-arteta-edu-premier-league
Fortunately, it appears the fans will get their wish, with Edu Gaspar and Co closing in on an exciting addition to the team and a player who'll help unlock Kai Havertz.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from The Athletic's David Ornstein, Arsenal are "stepping up" their efforts to sign Real Sociedad's Mikel Merino this summer.
Arsenal-Mikel-Merino-Arteta
Ornstein has revealed that Edu has been in Spain this week to "pursue" an agreement with the Basque club and that the player is keen to join the club, with personal terms not expected to be an issue.
There is no mention of how much the transfer might cost the Gunners, but reports from earlier this summer revealed that the fee could be around £25m.
Mikel-Merino-Arsenal-Spain
It's not an insignificant amount of money, but based on his performances for Sociedad and Spain, it's reasonable, and bringing him in this summer should also help unlock Havertz.
Why Merino will help unlock Havertz
Okay, so while Merino isn't necessarily going to be the midfielder playing killer passes into the frontline while Martin Odegaard is next to him, there is one very crucial reason why having him in the team will help unlock Havertz, and that is simply his presence in the lineup.
Merino-Arsenal
Speak to any group of Arsenal fans about the German's campaign last season. The vast majority will tell you that he started slow and ended the year on fire and that these two spells directly correlated with where Arteta was playing him.
In the first half of the year, he was tasked with replacing Granit Xhaka in the left-eight role, and while he wasn't dreadful, he was underwhelming, racking up just six goals in 32 appearances, equating to an average of a goal involvement once every 5.33 games.
Havertz's 23/24
Position
Midfield
Striker
Appearances
32
18
Goals
6
8
Assists
0
7
Goal Involvements per Match
0.18
0.83
All Stats via Transfermarkt
However, when he was moved into the number nine role in the latter half of the season, he exploded. In just 18 appearances as the club's centre-forward, he scored eight goals and provided seven assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.2 games in this new position, which is undeniably impressive.
Despite this incredible form up top, the former Chelsea ace has started a few preseason games in midfield this summer - much to the dismay of some supporters - but with the Sociedad star in the team, that would be far less likely to happen in competitive games.
Mikel-Merino-Real-Sociedad
This is because he spent the vast majority of last season playing in central midfield for La Real, with 38 of his 40 starts coming in that eight position.
Moreover, he's really impressive in the role as well, demonstrating his attacking talent with a haul of eight goals and five assists in 45 appearances, while showing he's no slouch in defence either, being the only player in Europe's top seven leagues to win over 300 duels last season - 326 to be exact.
Lastly, Arteta has reportedly been keen to sign the Spanish "monster," as data analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him, all summer following his displays for Sociedad and Spain. He's not going to suddenly change his position at the Emirates to accommodate a player who clearly plays his best football as a centre-forward.
Therefore, while it's taken a while for this deal to progress, bringing Merino to Arsenal this summer looks like a fantastic idea, not only for the quality he'll bring to the middle of the park, but also because he'll free Havertz to remain up top, where he should be playing.
Odegaard-Arsenal
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