Mikel Merino fee agreed – implications for Havertz and Rice

Morning.

Let’s begin with the news that Arsenal and Real Sociedad have agreed terms for the transfer of Mikel Merino. I don’t know that you can necessarily call this one a saga, because I don’t think there was ever any real doubt it would happen. Of course a deal can hit a stumbling block for all kinds of reasons, but we wanted the player, the player wanted us, and La Real were realistic enough to know this was the moment they needed to cash in on the player.

The fee is reportedly €33.5m + add-ons (which could hit €5m), which is relatively expensive for a 28 year old in the last year of his contract. However, at this point in the window most of our eggs were in this particular basket, and while we have successfully pivoted in the past, I don’t think there was any great desire to do that again. It gave Real Sociedad a bit of leverage and fair play to them, they’ve used it well.

Merino is scheduled to travel to London today for a medical, no doubt somebody is already tracking his plane, and bar any kind of unexpected problem, he’ll become an Arsenal player. The fact that he’s 28 with experience in Germany, England and Spain – as well as being a full Spanish international – means he’s probably going to get up to speed pretty quickly.

I think his position is pretty clearly defined, his qualities fit that ‘left 8’ position perfectly, with characteristics that Mikel Arteta craves. He is a DUEL MONSTER, but he can add a lot more than that. At 6’2 he’s another big lad to use in both boxes, and his arrival has implications for other players too. I don’t fully rule out the idea that we’ll see Kai Havertz in midfield again, but I suspect Merino’s presence ensures his primary role is up front, with Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard as the other options there.

It also means Declan Rice is much more likely to play as a 6, and with two veterans in the squad who both play that role, their playing time is likely to be diminished. Then again, it’s a long season with plenty of football to play, and it’s clear that the manager is going to have to use the full depth of his squad to keep everyone as fresh as possible. On paper though, when there’s a big game, you can see how things might be set up with a Rice, Merino, Odegaard midfield.

Another thing to consider is that the summer policy of one in, one out suggests there’s something concrete happening with a departure. The obvious one is Eddie Nketiah who has been linked strongly with Nottingham Forest this week, and the completion of Merino negotiations could indicate something similar with regards Eddie’s situation. I guess we’ll find out in due course.

If it does go through at the fee reported, my back of a match-book calculations makes our summer business running at something of an even keel. If Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino come in at around €80m combined, the departures of Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie + assorted young players like Mika Biereth, Brooke Norton Cuffy, some sell-on fees and loan fees included, then our ‘net spend’ is more or less even.

I suppose you can look at this in a couple of ways. One is that last summer we spent big and brought in very little (which was true of the two previous summers), so this is a way of not adding to the deficit. To me that’s the one that makes the most sense. Another is that with Champions League revenue from last season and this season, prize money and TV money etc, we’re leaving ourselves in a position where we have the ability to do something interesting in the final week of the transfer window.

It’s Friday 23rd now, the window closes this day week at 11pm, so perhaps there’s scope to bring in someone else. As I’ve said all throughout this summer, I’d love to see us add an attacking player to the squad, and there are whispers that Arsenal are looking at a winger of some kind before the deadline. Those with your glasses half-full will start thinking about Nico Williams (I’d say there’s almost 0 chance of that after he took the number 10 shirt at Athletic Bilbao); the less half-full glasses will wonder if it might be a young up-and-comer or perhaps a veteran on loan; and maybe some have no glass to be half-anything, but we don’t have long to wait to find out what the final make-up of the squad will be until January at least.

Right, that’s as much as I have for you this morning. Do join us on Patreon a bit later on for our Premier League preview podcast when we’ll look ahead to tomorrow’s game against Aston Villa, while for now there’s a brand new Arsecast below chatting to Clive Palmer about youth prospects, Eddie, Reiss, Merino and lots more.

Enjoy!

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