Arsenal are having a bit of cursed luck with new signings in the past couple of seasons. Last time, they signed Jurrien Timber from Ajax in a highly anticipated transfer only for the defender to do his ACL and be ruled out for the rest of the season. This time around, they signed Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad. The Spanish midfielder was expected to be the final, connecting piece in Mikel Arteta’s midfield jigsaw. He was supposed to be the perfect foil to Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
It took the Gunners a long time to convince Real Sociedad to sell the player. After long-drawn negotiations that included pipping Barcelona to his signature, Arteta would have been keen to have him in the squad.
Merino has been training with the team these past few days and was expected to be involved in some capacity against Brighton. He already was showing signs of settling in and everything seemed too good to be true. Well, disaster has struck.
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Timber 2.0?
Mikel Merino has injured his shoulder in training after coming under a heavy challenge from Gabriel and is now set to be ruled out for weeks. His arm is currently in a sling and he has also been dropped from the Spain squad for the Nation League games.
🚨🔴⚪️ Bad news for Arsenal as Mikel Merino is injured.
“He has a shoulder injury and it looks like he will be out for a few weeks”.
“He landed on the floor and Gabi landed on top of him, it’s a fracture probably”, Arteta says via @NizaarKinsella. pic.twitter.com/ZnKHWIoVdf
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2024
It’s still not clear if it is a fractured shoulder but that could be catastrophic for Arsenal. Such an injury usually takes 6 months for full recovery and that means that the Spaniard will miss out on football until March.
Arsenal fans will want to wait for the prognosis to assess the extent of the injury. If it isn’t a fracture, the Gunners could expect the player to return in a few weeks. It might still be a month or more but that is better than losing him for six months.
With not long to go in the transfer window, Arsenal might not have the time to look in the market and sign a new midfielder. With Thomas Partey and Jorginho in the squad and Ethan Nwaneri in the wings, Arteta can manage until Merino returns.
This is not how anyone envisioned Merino’s Arsenal career to start. It is a shame but injuries are a part of this game and there is no point complaining about it. Let’s hope the 28-year-old’s prognosis is not that severe and that he can return to play very soon.
