The 28-year-old joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad this summer, but only made his debut at the start of October against Paris Saint-Germain after being sidelined with a shoulder injury in his first training session.
However, since stepping onto the grass under the lights at the Emirates Stadium, Merino has made it clear to fans why Mikel Arteta wanted his services to bolster the midfield this season.
"It’s been great," he says. "It was difficult at the beginning because nobody wants to get injured in the first session. Obviously, when you come here you want to make an impact, you want to prove why they signed you and you want to start building up that confidence and that relationship with your teammates.
"But I think, after the injury, everybody helped me so much, not only the players but the staff, the fans as well, I felt the love immediately and that helped me a lot to recover as fast as possible and at the same time to build a relationship with the whole team. So I feel like, right now, I’m at a good stage. Obviously not at the best one, but I’ll get there."
Arsenal beat PSG comfortably the night Merino made his debut in red and white, but life in London hasn't come without its challenges.
The 2-0 defeat away to Bournemouth, with Arsenal playing with ten men for 60 minutes, was a frustrating watch for the fans who would have expected a resounding result against the Cherries.
However, the Spanish midfielder has already changed his focus to the task ahead, registering another three points against Shakhtar Donetsk and climbing up the rankings.
"It’s always good when you lose a game [to play another game quickly], it’s always bad when you win because this is football nowadays, you don’t have time to think about the last game, about the last action.
"You always have new things coming, new challenges and it’s really good to have a game now, we can try to win, try to give our best version in front of our fans and try to, not erase because obviously we have to think about it [the Bournemouth game] and try to get better and learn from the mistakes, but to have a new feeling.
"For us, it is always about winning. Mikel [Arteta] knows that, Mikel’s always telling us that, we have to win in any context and the thing is, we have the team capable of doing that. We have been playing in a very challenging situation for the last couple of weeks but the coach told us he’s really proud of the effort, of how the team managed to play with one player less for almost the whole game.
"So it’s about taking the good things, not only the bad things, and try to improve for the next game."
Arsenal's opponents are the 15-time Ukrainian Premier League winners Shakhtar Donetsk. Shakhtar have had a relatively slow start to the season, falling six points behind league leaders Dynamo Kyiv.
Due to the implications surrounding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Shakhtar Donetsk have lost a lot of their most talented players, and been displaced to Gelsenkirchen, playing their home games at the Veltins Arena in Germany.
"Sitting right here, I cannot even think about what they must be feeling or what life is like," Merino concedes. "But, obviously, we are all empathetic. I wish them all the best for their careers, for their lives. Hopefully this situation stops as soon as possible but obviously we cannot control that from here. We will try to host them in the best manner possible."
Arsenal's combined four points from two games places them in 13th in the rankings. With two consecutive, difficult away trips to Milan and Lisbon coming, a win against Shakhtar Donetsk would not only provide momentum for their domestic games but also boost the team's confidence in the Champions League.
With a European Championship title to his name, Merino is ready to fight for the lucrative Champions League trophy to add to his already impressive collection.
"I have been lucky enough to win a lot of trophies in my career, with the national team as well, I know the feeling and it’s something that you cannot compare with anything else.
"Knowing what this club is about and how big winning trophies is in general, winning the Champions League here would be amazing. Obviously, there is still a long way to go to achieve that.
"But I think we have the basics, we have the players, we have the mentality and that has to be the ultimate goal so hopefully we can start by winning tomorrow and keep on growing and building up for when the stakes are the final, hopefully."
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