Mikel Merino reveals details of freak injury that delayed his Arsenal debut

Mikel Merino made his long-awaited Arsenal debut against PSG (Picture: Getty)

Mikel Merino has opened up on the mental anguish caused by the freak injury that saw his Arsenal career get off to the worst possible start.

The Spain international resisted offers from Atletico Madrid and Barcelona to sign for the Gunners following his exploits at Euro 2024 where he played a prominent role in his nation’s triumph.

Mikel Arteta identified the former Real Sociedad star as a perfect potential midfield partner for Declan Rice, but his plans were put on the backburner after the 28-year-old was injured in his first training session with his new club after a collision with Gabriel Magalhaes.

‘To come in here, you want to have a nice few days to show everybody what you are capable of, to show why they have put faith in you and then the first thing that happens is you break your scapula,’ said Merino.

‘It is tough to recover from that mentally. Everybody here in the club was really nice to me, really lovely, you could feel the love and support of everybody.

‘It was such an unlucky moment. If you see the action… it’s just …I mean… I haven’t seen an injury like this ever in my career.

‘But, well, these are things that happen. Obviously it was not the best timing, but at the same time I like to look at the pros, the bright side of it.

Mikel Merino earned a reputation for his ability to win the ball back during his time with Real Sociedad (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

‘This gave me a lot of time to think, to get to know my team-mates, to get to know the staff, to work on myself, the things that I need to do in terms of tactics, in terms of physicality and I think I am a much better player now than I was four weeks ago.’

Merino belatedly made his debut in last night’s 2-0 Champions League win over PSG and earned the praise of his manager as he gave a glimpse of the ball-winning qualities that have become his trademark.

In just a short time in north London, Merino has been wowed by a manager who has already opened his eyes to aspect of the game that he never knew existed.

‘It’s something that is amazing, to be honest with you,’ said Merino, when asked about training under Arteta.

‘They do some things that I have never seen in my career. The methods they use are completely new to me, so obviously it takes some time to adapt.

‘I don’t want to tell everything that we do, but there is no rest between one moment and the other. They are always challenging you mentally with different stimuluses. It makes you always all the time aware of what is happening around you.

‘I think that when you get it, you are in a different level because they challenge you every single day – not only physically, but mentally. That makes you be sharp mentally and that’s what you are going to find out in the game.’

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