The Spanish midfielder, who arrived from Real Sociedad in a £27.4million deal, has found himself being used as a striker of late in the absence of the injured Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. Against the Blues, he showed off his surprisingly good striker prowess again, by flicking Martin Odegaard's corner over Blues keeper Robert Sanchez and into the back of the net to secure a vital three points.
Following the match, Merino took to Instagram to share his joy with Arsenal fans, posting a picture of himself celebrating at the Emirates. Olmo, who was linked with a move to the Gunners, sent a message of his own to his compatriot.
As part of his caption, Merino posted: "London derby", followed by a red emoji, a golf flag emoji and a football emoji. Olmo, who is also a team-mate of Merino's for the Spanish national team, responded to the post with a single word: "Aura", highlighting the huge impact his international colleague is having in north London.
In the January transfer window, Olmo was rumoured to be potentially joining Arsenal, along with other clubs such as Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City, with a £5m loan deal to the Gunners mooted.
He had signed for Barcelona last summer for just over £50million after they paid his release clause at RB Leipzig off the back of Spain's Euro 2024 triumph.
And despite issues with his registration at the club, the versatile 26-year-old attacker has remained with Hansi Flick's side. Barcelona's financial woes meant that when they signed Olmo, he was only registered until December 31.
After this date, a number of clubs, including Arsenal, were rumoured to be interested in snapping him up if Barcelona couldn't register their summer signing. However, just over a week into the January transfer window, it was confirmed that Olmo had been registered by the Catalans in La Liga, quashing rumours that he could be heading to the Gunners.
This season, under Hansi Flick, Olmo has made 27 appearances, netting seven goals and providing five assists. Meanwhile, Merino has managed to contribute five goals and an assist for the Gunners.
His goals have turned one point into three on two occasions in the Premier League, the 2-0 away victory against Leicester City and the win over Chelsea. Arteta was quick to recognise the impact of the versatile Spaniard.
Merino and Olmo are team-mates at Spain (
Image:
BSR Agency, Getty Images)
In his post-match interview, the Arsenal boss said: "The way he's approaching it is incredible. He wants to understand everything and to learn from it. He's very critical of himself all the time. The reality is that he's winning matches for us.
"The value of it, it was a big match. In the end we win the game because of that goal. Very happy with his contribution. We worked on something similar [from the set-piece], but that. To be fair it was a different kind of finish planned.
"It will generate belief in the team again, in the stadium with the crowd, that we can score. It's something we've been missing when we were so prolific."
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