The Spain international joined the Gunners from Real Sociedad earlier this week in a deal worth £27.4million plus £4.2million in add-ons. The 28-year-old signed a four-year deal with an option of an additional year at Emirates Stadium and it had been hoped he would make his debut Saturday lunchtime.
Mikel Arteta confirmed on Friday that this will not be the case, however, after Merino picked up an injury during Thursday's training session. "Yes, very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury unfortunately. It looks like he's going to be out for a few weeks," Arteta said during his pre-match press conference.
"He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and (Big) Gabi landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably."
Merino joins Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu on the treatment table. Jesus picked up a groin injury last week while Tomiyasu is nursing a knee injury.
On Jesus, Arteta said: "He is progressing really well. He had a little muscle injury (groin) and he is doing quite a lot of stuff already, so we expect him to be with us pretty soon."
The Spaniard added on Tomiyasu: "At the moment, it's difficult to say. It's a bit slow the process of the first phase of that injury. It's probably for the medical team to say more on that."
It means Arteta is guaranteed to be without three senior players for the clash with Brighton, plus Kieran Tierney who is still recovering from a hamstring injury picked up at the Euros with Scotland. New signing Neto is also not available to play after completing a season-long loan from Bournemouth on deadline day, with the goalkeeper not registered in time for this fixture.
So, with these five players not available, it means the Gunners have 17 fit senior players available for selection. As per Premier League rules, a club is only allowed to name a squad of 20 players for a Premier League match which means a few academy stars will need to step up. This may become more frequent given Aaron Ramsdale and Eddie Nketiah both departed the club on Friday and had been included in squads up until now.
Every word Mikel Arteta said on Mikel Merino injury, Raheem Sterling to Arsenal and Neto arrival
With Neto not registered and Karl Hein on loan, Tommy Setford will almost certainly be named in the squad to act as cover for David Raya. Ethan Nwaneri is another youngster who has been training with the first team recently, as has Myles Lewis-Skelly so it's possible these two are also included in the 20-man squad.
Possible Arsenal squad for Brighton: Raya, Setford; White, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Calafiori, Zinchenko; Partey, Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Havertz; Saka, Martinelli, Trossard, Nelson.
Senior players unavailable for Brighton: Neto (not registered in time), Tomiyasu (knee injury), Tierney (hamstring injury), Merino (shoulder injury), Jesus (groin injury).
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