One of the most prominent figures in Spanish football is very close to packing his bags and heading to the Premier League. Real Sociedad and Arsenal reached an agreement yesterday for the transfer of Navarrese midfielder Mikel Merino to the London club for 32.5 million euros and five more in variables.
According to sources close to the negotiations, Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay yesterday closed the deal with the English club’s management on the transfer of the midfielder, after two weeks of talks.
Merino, 28, had expressed to the San Sebastian side months ago his intention not to renew his contract, which ends on June 30, 2025, in the event that he received an offer from certain Premier League clubs, as revealed by the manager last Monday.
The proposal reached Real’s offices a few weeks ago and the San Sebastian club has negotiated to obtain the highest amount of money for the player, aware 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 ‘txuri-urdin’ club paid 12 million euros to Borussia Dortmund.
During the six seasons he has been at Real Sociedad, the player has offered extraordinary performances, 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 gave a decisive pass to Portu that ended in the penalty that ended up giving the championship to the Basque team.
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.
Now, the midfielder is close to joining the Gunners, where he will be under the orders of Mikel Arteta.
The London side will fight to win the league championship, a title they have not won since the 2003/04 season. In the last two seasons, they have finished second twice.
Interest in ‘Can Barça’
Merino’s departure is set to be one of the most notable operations of a transfer market that is set to be frenetic in the coming days before it closes on August 30.
In the last few hours, a digital media outlet revealed Barcelona’s interest in the 21-year-old Almería player Marc Pubill.
The defender, a recent Olympic gold medallist with the Spanish national team, would be an option for the Blaugrana to reinforce the right-back position. With Jules Koundé established in this ‘sector’, his possible arrival would imply the foreseeable departure of the young academy player Héctor Fort.
The club chaired by Joan Laporta, according to another national sports newspaper, is negotiating a loan for five million euros with an option to buy at the end of the season.
Beyond the arrivals, the Catalan club must reduce its roster of players in order to improve its financial fair play and return to the 1:1 rule.
Barça still have to confirm the departure of German midfielder Ilkay Gündogan to Manchester City, in the form of a transfer, as well as the loan of Vítor Roque to Betis.
The operation that would take the German back to the ‘Citizen’ team would help the registration of some players from the Barça squad. One of them would be Dani Olmo, recent signing of the Barcelona club.
