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With complete sincerity and frankness Jokin Aperribay has explained the current situation regarding the more than possible departure of Mikel Merino to Arsenal. And, according to what the manager has hinted, if this operation is running aground it is not precisely because of Real Sociedad.
After presenting Sergio Gómez and Luka Sucic – a player that both Roberto Olabe and Imanol Alguacil consider the natural replacement for the Navarrese midfielder – the Real Sociedad leader explained, in detail, what Mikel Merino’s situation is like at Real Sociedad.
“Last week we had a meeting with Arsenal and on Saturday we had a conversation. We have not had any more. This week we will have another conversation and We’ll see how it goes“, said Jokin Aperribay, who is very clear that the chances of the European champion continuing at Anoeta after September 1 are, at the very least, remote.
“At the beginning of the season and at Christmas, when we had talks about renewing, Mikel already told us that he feels very much a Real Sociedad fan and that if a Premier League team came – he named two or three teams – he wanted to fulfil his dream of returning and having great success. And, if not, we would talk about renewing. From the beginning of the season we were clear about it and when we were in Japan, Roberto told me that Arsenal had called. From that conversation we already knew that Mikel was probably going to say yes to them,” he added.
In this regard, Aperribay regrets that this operation was not carried out quickly and that Merino had to return to training.We would have liked it to have been earlier and for him not to have come.. But from the beginning of the season things were clear and at Christmas they were very very clear. The only chance “For it to continue, none of those two or three Premier League teams would appear. And one of them has appeared.”
Mikel Merino. (Photo: Real Sociedad)
Luka Sucic is the natural replacement for Mikel Merino
Pending the possible sale of the player being finalised in the talks that Arsenal and Real Sociedad will have in the coming days, Aperribay confirms that Luka Sucic is the player who convinced Roberto Olabe and Imanol Alguacil from the outset to be Merino’s replacement.
“That same night Roberto passed names to Imanol and, when he returned from Japan, it was already thought that The substitute was Luka Sucic. We are talking about the end of May. We had assumed that it could happen and when Arsenal called it could happen. This Friday we had a conversation with Mikel, because We never stop trying to make him stayand we were talking clearly about everything and he reminded us of his experiences with Real, how happy he has been here and how txuri urdin he feels. He also told us that he wanted to wait for his opportunities to renew, because he didn’t want to tell the Real Sociedad fans ‘I’m renewing to leave’ and that’s what happened. It’s not a surprise, this is the full explanation. At the end of the season a team appeared that we wouldn’t want to appear,” he concluded.
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