Where does Arsenal’s Mikel Merino belong long-term?

Just Arsenal News

·13 mai 2025

Where does Arsenal’s Mikel Merino belong long-term?

Arsenal received their sixth red card of the season against Liverpool, pulling clear of Ipswich Town to lead in that department. The culprit this time around was none other than Mikel Merino as he received his marching orders after picking up a yellow from a second bookable offence.

What sparked this article isn’t necessarily the sending off but how he got sent off in the first place. Well, when I put it like that, it is about the sending off, but you do get what I mean! Building out from the back, the ball was played into the Spaniard but a poor touch saw him lose the ball in a dangerous position, what proceeded was a series of tackles that ultimately led to his dismissal.

Vidéos OneFootball

Merino’s limitations in this Arsenal midfield

That action perfectly depicted his limitations in this Arsenal midfield. For a player as athletic as he is, his rigidity on the ball is a puzzler and this becomes worse when his back is against goal. There are two reasons (IMO) for this, firstly he’s just slow on the ball and lastly he’s seriously one footed. This is why he struggles to turn and progress as well as being able to receive the ball comfortably from a variety of positions and angles.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Is Merino’s future as a utility player?

Now I won’t overly criticize him because he has been immense at times this campaign. As a striker, he has been impressive and played a huge role in our run to the UCL semi-final. In fact the best we’ve seen of him in red and white is at centre-forward which is mind blowing considering he hasn’t featured there prior to the second half of this campaign. This is even confusing when he plays in midfield, he’s a worse player in his preferred position!

With that said, Merino’s future obviously doesn’t belong at centre-forward so where does it actually lie? He’s not getting into the side when Declan Rice is fit and even if the Englishman is absent, Kai Havertz would fit better in his absence, which tells you a lot. The case is the same in defensive midfield or even worse, considering his worst performances have come in that position (on the rare occasions he has been deployed there).

So if he doesn’t belong in either of those two positions, would the best solution be to sell? Well if Arsenal even consider, it would only bring their decision to sign the player into question, especially because he was signed only a year ago. Moreover, they may struggle to find suitors due to his age.

The best and most reasonable answer is to keep him as a utility player. His versatility will prove useful in a season full of injuries and a lot of matches. But that only applies if he comes on as a centre-forward or as an auxiliary attacker!

When he arrived last season, I was certainly expecting to see him feature prominently for years to come, but off the back of what we’ve seen this campaign, that won’t be the case. I hope I’m wrong but I highly doubt it.

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