Mikel Arteta hailed the impact of Mikel Merino after the summer signing from Real Sociedad made a positive impression on his eagerly awaited Arsenal debut last night against PSG in the Champions League.
The Gunners fought off competition from the likes of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in order to recruit a player Arteta had identified as his No.1 midfield target.
Merino’s start to life at his new club got off to the worst possible start when he suffered a shoulder injury during his first training session following a freak accident involving Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Spain international, however, made surprisingly quick progress in his recovery and finally gave Arsenal fans a glimpse of what to expect from him during an eye-catching 20-minute second half cameo.
Merino entered the fray just as PSG were threatening to launch a comeback, but the 28-year-old helped protect Arsenal two-goal lead and showed some of the steeliness and combative qualities that persuaded Arsenal to invest so heavily in him.
‘Really good, because he joined us and first session he got injured,’ said Arteta when asked for his assessment of Merino’s contribution to a solid 2-0 win.
‘He had only one session with us, he was ready, he was really willing to be part of this today and obviously with the injuries and changes we had to make, we believe that he was the player that could help us in that phase. I think he’s done really well.’
The versatile Italian defender was forced to play in both full-back positions against the French champions owing to Arteta’s decision to withdraw Jurrien Timber at half-time as a precaution.
‘He has the capacity to occupy different spaces, he’s really comfortable with that, he’s already done that in Italy and that’s why we signed him,’ said Arteta.
‘First of all, he’s a great defender, he has this presence and energy and full commitment in the reaction that he does and he’s really brave.
‘He doesn’t care in those situations, he wants the ball, he wants to make things happen with it and is happy to play in different roles.’
