Mikel Merino, a midfielder from Spain, has joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad for a possible £31.6 million transfer.
After agreeing to pay an initial £27.4 million plus £4.2 million in add-ons, the Gunners signed a four-year deal with the option to extend for an additional year. The 28-year-old will now reside in north London.
Manager Mikel Arteta stated, “Mikel is a player who will bring us huge quality with his experience and versatility.”
Merino had a significant role in the Spanish team that won Euro 2024. He appeared in all seven games and scored the game-winning goal in extra time against Germany in the quarterfinal.
He becomes Arsenal’s third signing of the transfer window, after the arrival of Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori and Spain goalkeeper David Raya, with the club activating an option to buy him from Brentford following his loan move a year ago.
“Mikel will make our squad significantly stronger, with his technical ability, together with his strong and positive character and personality,” added Arteta.
“As we all saw in the summer, Mikel is also a winner, with his strong performances throughout the Euros helping Spain win the tournament.”
Merino can operate as a deeper-lying midfielder and it is thought he will complement Declan Rice, who played a ‘box-to-box’ role at times last season.
He also provides Arsenal boss Arteta with another option to compete with Rice, Jorginho, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard in midfield.
Merino has previous experience of the Premier League, having spent a year at Newcastle before moving to Real Sociedad in 2018, where he played alongside Odegaard in 2019-20 when the Norwegian was on loan from Real Madrid.
The new signing, who has 28 international caps, made 45 club appearances in all competitions last season, scoring eight goals.
