Mikel Merino’s debut may have come later than he would have hoped, but the five weeks he has spent on the sidelines have not been wasted. Arsenal’s new signing absorbed information, watched from afar and eventually dived back into training with his new team-mates. Suffice it to say, he is extremely impressed.
Arriving from Real Sociedad in August, Merino’s first training session with his new club proved to be agonizing. A collision with centre-back Gabriel left the Spain international with a severe shoulder injury which was initially expected to sideline him for anywhere up to eight weeks. Instead, Merino offered the Emirates Stadium the most pleasant of surprises on Tuesday night, a second-half cameo in the 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain, suggesting the new signing has just the blend of technique and muscle that is so prized in north london right now.
Mikel Arteta praised his new signing after the game, noting that Merino had just one training session to adapt to the rigors of Arsenal’s game. To hear Merino explain it, it takes a lot of adjusting. “They’re doing some things I’ve never seen in my career,” he said when asked about what he’s observed at London Colney. “The methods they use are completely new to me, so obviously it takes some time to adapt. At the same time, I think when you get it, you’re on a different level because they challenge you every day – not just physically. , but mentally That makes you sharp mentally and that’s what you’ll find out in the game.
“I don’t want to tell everything we do, but there is no rest between one moment and the other. They always challenge you mentally with different stimuli. It makes you always all the time aware of what is happening around you.
“The mentality they have here is amazing, not only on the pitch, but at the training ground and how they focus on the single things, the details, the basics. When I spoke to Mikel and I saw what was the plan, no. just with me but the whole team, what was the culture, I felt that this is the right place to take the next step in my career, I want to grow, I want to learn even more – and I think, that this is the right place to keep getting better and keep winning.”
Even before making his full debut, Merino’s attitude was widely praised around Arsenal. A hammer blow from a player of Gabriel’s physicality would be enough to knock anyone off his pace and the 28-year-old makes no attempt to hide his disappointment when reflecting on the extended wait to don his new colors for the first time.
“It was really tough mentally to be honest,” Merino said. “To come in here, you want to have good days, show everybody what you’re capable of, show why they trusted you and then the first thing that happens is you break your shoulder blade. It’s hard. to recover from that mentally.
“It was such an unlucky moment. If you see the action… it’s just… I mean… I’ve never seen an injury like that in my career. But, well, these are things that happen. Obviously it wasn’t the best time, but at the same time I like to look at the bright side of it This gave me a lot of time to think, to know my teammates, to work on myself I have to do in terms of tactics, in terms of physicality and I think I’m a much better player now than four weeks ago.”
Merino knows what the end goal is. When he is told that being in the right place to improve must lead to trophies, his response is quick. “Obviously. Winning trophies is the main thing here for everyone. They are obsessed with it.”
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