Mikel Merino to Arsenal? Former Newcastle midfielder has the quality and character to excel under Mikel Arteta | Football News

“When I lose a duel, I’m angry,” a furious Mikel Arteta shouted at his players after an FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest in 2022. The scene in the dressing room, captured in Everything or nothingis circulating again as Arsenal are interested in Mikel Merino.

Arteta has of course managed to raise the side’s competitive standards in the intervening years. But the qualities cited in that explosive drubbing at the City Ground – dedication, focus, fighting spirit – remain his non-negotiables.

And the typical example is Mikel Merino.

The 28-year-old, who won the European Championship with Spain this summer, specialises in winning duels. Last season, he won more duels with Real Sociedad than any other player in Europe’s top five. No one came close to his total of 326.

It is worth noting that the second highest player on the list, Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes, has also been a target for Arsenal in recent years. Apparently, duel-winning ability is something the club wanted to add to their midfield.

Merino wool has so much more to offer.

At 1.88m, Merino continues Arsenal’s trend of targeting physically strong players since the arrivals of Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and, most recently, Riccardo Calafiori. Merino possesses formidable aerial strength and a knack for stealing possession.

Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany certainly noticed this at the European Championship, when in the last minute of extra time, after a late attack in the penalty area, another Merino trademark, he headed in a cross from Dani Olmo with a high header, thus securing Spain a place in the semi-finals.

Although Merino was not a regular starter for Luis de la Fuente’s team, he ended the tournament as one of four players – along with Alvaro Morata, Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal – to feature in all seven of Spain’s matches and lift the trophy.

“I think that tournament was a good reflection of him,” said Miguel Flaño, a former team-mate at his boyhood club Osasuna. Sky Sport.

“He is used to starting games and being very important for his club. But his role at the European Championship was something different. Even though he was not a starter, he showed a lot of humility, because he understood that he could still be important in a different way.

“And as we saw, he was decisive, especially with his goal against Germany, but also in the games where he didn’t score. He just puts the team first and thinks about how he can help.”

Merino’s rise, albeit after difficult spells at Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle, comes as no surprise to Flaño or anyone who knew him from Osasuna, where he broke into the team at the age of 18 and played a key role in the team’s promotion to the Spanish top division in 2016.

“He was the soul of the team, despite being very young,” said Alfredo Sanchez, a former Osasuna player and assistant to Enrique Martin, the club’s manager at the time. Sky Sport.

“He had a great personality and, in football terms, what you see from him now is what he was then. He is very active on his left leg, he adapts to different situations, he can pass, he can beat a man, he is strong in the air and he knows when to arrive in the penalty area.”

“Mikel has always been a very complete player,” adds Flaño, another graduate of the club’s academy. “He is technically very good and tactically very intelligent because he understands football so well.

“His aerial play is valuable, both in defensive and attacking set-pieces. He can really make the difference in those situations.

“And in terms of his mentality, he is a boy who doesn’t feel pressure and has the personality to perform in important matches.”

Merino showed his hunger for the big moments with his winning goal against Germany in Stuttgart, celebrated in the style of his father, Angel, who scored for Osasuna in a European tie at the same venue 33 years earlier. But it has been evident since his youth.

In fact, it was only thanks to Merino, who scored six goals in eight games, that Osasuna secured promotion in 2016. Their midfield talent helped them reach the play-offs, despite having already decided to join Dortmund at the end of the season.

He is a boy who does not feel pressure and has the personality to take a step forward in important matches

“He was incredible in those games,” Sanchez recalls. “Decisive,” is the word Flaño uses. “That was the year he exploded at Osasuna,” Flaño adds. “He attracted a lot of attention.”

Things didn’t work out well for him at Dortmund, where he struggled to beat Thomas Tuchel. When he joined Newcastle, an ill-timed back injury derailed a bright start and he found himself below Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame in Rafael Benitez’s midfield pecking order.

But he’s certainly attracting attention again now.

Merino played an excellent six years at Real Sociedad, a period in which he was consistent in his availability and performance level. This summer he attracted the attention of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, as well as Arsenal.

“You have to be very good in all aspects of the game to reach the level where so many big teams are interested in you,” said Sanchez.

“We are talking about a top player here.”

His role in Osasuna’s promotion campaign was that of the two most attacking midfielders, encouraged to make runs into the penalty area.

“He played more as a number 10 before we came to the club but we felt he wasn’t comfortable in that role,” Sanchez explained. “We put him back and felt that was the ideal role for him.”

However, it is the formation he subsequently played at Real Sociedad, as a left winger in midfield, a number 8, that is probably more indicative of how he might be deployed at Arsenal.

Arteta’s 4-3-3 system is similar to that of Real Sociedad and the presence of captain Martin Odegaard, a player Merino worked well with when the Norwegian was on loan at Real Madrid in 2019-20, provides an added sense of familiarity.

Arsenal will hope he can replace the departed Granit Xhaka and, alongside Calafiori, restore threat and fluidity down the left flank, while allowing Rice to return to his natural position at No.6.

Merino is not a direct replacement for Xhaka. He is more physical and less technical. But his relatively low passing accuracy of 77 percent at Real Sociedad can be explained, at least in part, by a tendency to take risks with his distribution.

Merino likes to play with the ball but builds up the play slowly. However, he prefers to play the ball forward. That could help Gabriel Martinelli. His form declined without Xhaka last season and he is most effective when picking up passes behind him.

His character is likely another part of his appeal to Arteta.

Merino’s footballing upbringing took place in the Spanish region of Navarra, which borders Arteta’s native Basque Country and shares many of the same sporting principles.

“An Osasuna player is usually a hard-working, competitive player,” explains Flaño, who spent some time coaching in the club’s youth academy after retiring as a player.

“We may not necessarily be brilliant players who stand out, but we are humble, reliable and consistent, and that generally pays off in the long run. Mikel has those qualities, but the other important thing is of course that he is also brilliant.

“I think Arteta conveys the same message in the way he speaks to the press and in some of his comments.

“You can tell he really likes these types of players, hard-working players who walk around the pitch, who have passion, who are not flashy or flashy, but who know how to compete and who have an eye for detail.”

Merino’s competitive nature has also impressed Sanchez. “He gets a lot of yellow cards because he has a lot of heart and gives everything,” he says. “But that, combined with his ability to defend as well as he attacks, is how he got to where he is today.”

It is partly for that reason that those who know him have no doubts he can make it in England, despite his first spell in the Premier League with Newcastle proving short-lived.

“I think he was too young when the opportunity came at Newcastle,” Sanchez said. “Different culture, different structure, different kick-off times. He experienced it all at a very young age.

“I see him as much better prepared now. He has much more experience, many more matches under his belt, both at club level and internationally, and his body is also stronger.

“I can see him doing well anywhere, but I think he would be perfect for Arsenal, because of their system and their style, with a lot of possession and a lot of runs into the box. I think he would enjoy that.

“And don’t forget, we’re talking about a top player who never hides.”

Arteta will have noticed that Merino is also not afraid of a duel.