Mikel Arteta says there’s actually another position that Mikel Merino can play in at Arsenal

Add as preferred source on Google

Mikel Merino has been a revelation at Arsenal this season.

The Spain international joined the club last summer from Real Sociedad after lengthy negotiations. It took a while to bring him in, but Edu Gaspar sealed the deal in August.

Sadly, Merino suffered an injury in his very first training session at Arsenal, and that kept him on the sidelines for a little while.

It took a fair bit of time for the Spaniard to adapt to Mikel Arteta’s system following his return, and Merino received a lot of criticism during that period.

Now, however, all the noise around him has changed.

Mikel Arteta hails Mikel Merino and names the new position he can play in

Mikel Merino is naturally a left-sided number eight.

That is where the Spaniard has played all his life, but he did struggle in that role early on in his Arsenal career this season.

But, when Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz suffered season-ending injuries, Arteta turned to Merino to play as a striker, and he has been sensational there.

In the game against Ipswich Town, the former Sociedad star was asked to play in his usual midfield role, and he was fantastic there as well.

Arteta has now heaped praise on Merino’s ability to play in both positions at the highest level, and the Arsenal manager then claimed that he can play in another role as well.

He said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “I think it’s given him a different perspective about the position and how we link the attacking midfielder’s role with our 9s.

“He has certainly been spending much more time in the last few weeks in training around the box, so that’s probably going to give him another taste, another smell and a really good sense of timing of how he can hurt the opposition. That’s something very, very positive.

“He played a really good game in midfield at the weekend. Now, he feels really comfortable in both of them [positions], which is good and on the right as well.

“I think he can play on the right as well.”

Where should Mikel Merino play vs PSG?

It’s unclear whether Mikel Arteta meant the right-wing or the right side of central midfield, but after watching Merino deliver up top, you’d have the confidence to play him anywhere.

The Spaniard is such an intelligent footballer. The way he reads the game, understands the space around him and finds his teammates is truly brilliant.

Arsenal’s biggest game of the season now is against PSG in the Champions League, and Arteta will have debates in his head over where Merino should start – up front or in midfield because Thomas Partey is suspended.

We think Merino should continue as a striker. He was phenomenal in that role against Real Madrid in both games, and there’s no reason for a change now.