Arsenal Invincible Lauren explains why Arsenal are signing Mikel Merino (2024)

The addition of Mikel Merino to the Arsenal team brings in just the third senior signing of the summer following David Raya and Riccardo Calafiori. The Spaniard was coveted by Mikel Arteta for an incredibly long time and finally, he has got his man.

He joins without having been able to utilise pre-season and after the first match of the Premier League campaign as the negotiations with Real Sociedad have taken an incredibly long time. Both clubs wanted to get the best deal possible and now they have reached a compromise which suited all parties.

football.london spoke to Arsenal Invincible and former La Liga player and now commentator Lauren, courtesy of Sports betting software development firm Altenar, to get his thoughts on Merino. In short, he could not be more complimentary of the midfielder.

“I believe, first of all, he’s a great player. I’ve been watching him, I analyse La Liga all these years, and I believe that is a very good addition because he’s not only a player that will be in front of the back line and passing and moving, he’s a player that can stay, go up and down and get to the position where you can score.

“We saw in the Euro with Spain, we saw it many times last season in La Liga. So it's a player that’s much more mature now.

“When he first started, he was like a holding midfielder and then pass and move the ball. But now he’s a more complete player who can get the ball in those positions, connecting with the players that played in front of the strikers and the midfielders, it's a fantastic addition for Arsenal, a great asset.”

Merino joins a midfield with plenty of already established talent and reunites with Martin Odegaard who spent a season on loan with La Real before he joined the Gunners on a six-month loan spell a few months later.

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Lauren believes that Arteta will be able to utilise Merino in different ways and in different formations. He highlighted the importance of considering rotation and squad depth considering just how many games Arsenal will have to play.

“Well, first of all, I have to say that there are many games to come. We play in four competitions: Premier League, Champion League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup. So there will be a lot of games.

“I believe that if Arteta decides to play 4-2-3-1, he could be next to Declan Rice. If Arteta decides to play 4-3-3, then he can play a little bit higher up and leave Declan Rice in front of the back line. This is the position I would normally see him when he was playing with the national team and also with Real Sociedad so you can see him playing together with Declan Rice or a little bit higher if they change the system to a four."

Lauren made the same decision to join Arsenal from Spain but at a younger age. The move from Mallorca was something of a shock for the Cameroon international when he came to the Premier League but it had nothing to do with football.

The former Arsenal full back, however, believes Merino has an advantage that will stand him in good stead. “My transition from Spain to the Premier League, in my in my case, it wasn't about football. It was more about the lifestyle.

“Normally, here in the South, we get used to a different style of life and then you move to Mallorca and from Mallorca, you move to England it's a big change.

“Valencia, the city with the lifestyle, more or less, was similar, but getting to England it was completely the opposite. I mean you have to change the way you eat, you have to change the way you sleep. Siesta time, we have here it's until six o'clock in the afternoon.

“You can't siesta in England. So I in my in my case, it was more the lifestyle rather than football.

“Football, I didn't care I was happy. I was in a place where everybody got involved with the youngsters, and everybody got involved with the ones that came from abroad so that was not the issue. It was more for the lifestyle.

“Mikel Merino is from the north of Spain, it’s a different place, the weather is similar to England so I don't think he's going to have that kind of problem. So, therefore, I believe it's a top player.

“He's gonna get into the squad very soon, and he will play at the international level. “You know how to handle the pressure. You know how to deal with all the little issues that you can face on the training ground as a professional. So I don't think that he is going to have any problems.

“He’s gonna fit in straight away as well as the football has been changed. In that perspective, any player can play. I always said, good players and great players, at the end of the day, they're going to perform wherever they go.

“It doesn’t matter England, Norway or whatever the league is, they're going to fit and they're going to perform well and Mikel Merino is gonna do that I have no doubt.”

Again, a big thank you to Sports betting software development firm Altenar for helping make this happen.