Arsenal star with the ‘mobility of a tractor’ has now transformed his career under Mikel Arteta

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Arsenal signed off for the international break with an important 1-0 victory over London rivals Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

In what was a mostly tense and cagey game, Arsenal showed their superiority by restricting Chelsea to just two shots on target the whole game and apart from one fortunate mistake, David Raya had a quiet afternoon.

Ian Wright was unimpressed with Arsenal’s attack but there could be no doubting the Gunners solidity in defence and William Saliba and Jurrien Timber particularly impressed in the Arsenal player ratings v Chelsea.

The game was decided by a clever header from Mikel Merino and the Spaniard has become of increasing importance to Mikel Arteta and his side in recent weeks.

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Mikel Merino has transformed Arsenal career after position switch from Mikel Arteta

It is fair to say that Merino’s recent move to centre forward may well have gifted him some time to win over Arsenal supporters who were questioning his signing earlier this season.

Arsenal fans slammed Merino against Girona earlier on in the season and that wasn’t the only match in which the Spanish international received criticism from the fans.

One fan wrote during that match that Merino has the ‘mobility of a tractor’ and many were left frustrated at his slow and tentative play he was producing in the Gunners shirt.

However, since moving to a more advanced role, Merino has scored more than any other Arsenal player and in fact only Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush have scored more in the Premier League since his brace in a 2-0 win at Leicester in February.

Merino led Arsenal’s running statistics in win over Chelsea

The biggest indication of Merino’s recent transformation at Arsenal was highlighted with his statistics during the win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

Any Arsenal fan who had previously bemoaned Merino’s work rate and mobility would have been eating their words as the Spanish midfielder turned striker topped all of the running stats by a long way in the game.

Merino scored the only goal of the game but what was even more impressive was his ability to get about the pitch and cause Chelsea all sorts of problems both in and out of possession.

He is by far from the finished article in the centre forward position and will most likely revert back to his midfield role next season however, this little cameo could be the catalyst to really get his career going in North London.