Real Sociedad and Arsenal reached this Thursday a agreement for the transfer of the Navarrese midfielder Mikel Merino to the London club for 32.5 million of euros plus 5 in variables, of which, Osasuna will receive 3.5% of the transaction (1.13 million euros)This is due to the training rights stipulated by FIFA. This is a right that sports entities that trained players at certain ages have to compensate for the training work carried out. It is called solidarity mechanism and it is FIFA who determines this. It only occurs when there is an international transfer
In the case of Mikel Merino, this is the fourth time this has happened.: from Spain to Germany (Borussia Dortmund), from Germany to England (Newcastle), from England to Spain (Real Sociedad) and from Spain to England (Arsenal). This time, this payment takes on much greater importance due to the high price that the transfer fee for the red-and-white youth player will be..
According to ‘El Diario Vasco’ and confirmed by EFE through sources close to the negotiations, the president of Real, Jokin Aperribay, closed with the English club’s managers the transfer of Merino, after two weeks of talksMerino, 28, had expressed to Real months ago his intention not to renew his contract, which ended on June 30, 2025, in the event that he received an offer from certain Premier League clubs, as revealed by Aperribay on Monday.
The offer of 30 million plus 5 in variables arrived at the offices of Real a few weeks ago and The San Sebastian club has negotiated to obtain the largest amount of money for the playeraware that he only has one year left on his contract and that next season he could leave for free.
The Navarrese midfielder arrived at Real in July 2018, after the blue-and-white club paid 12 million euros to Borussia Dortmund.
During the six seasons in which he has been at Real Sociedad, the Navarrese has offered extraordinary performance, which has made him a key player for the coach, Imanol Alguacil.
He has played 190 league games, 24 in the Copa del Rey and 28 in European competitions, in which he has scored 27 goals.He won the 2021 Copa del Rey title, in the final of which he provided a perfect pass to Portu that ended in the penalty that ended up awarding the championship to Real.
This performance opened the doors for him to the Spanish national team, with which he scored a historic goal against Germany in the last European Championship that gave Spain a place in the semi-finals, in the 119th minute of extra time.
This is how one of the soap operas of the summer ends, a sale that was closed in the last days of the market because Arsenal had other squad priorities to cover. The English team signed Riccardo Calafiori first, so they did not formally contact Real Madrid until they secured his signing.
