Arsenal are far from finished in the summer transfer window with Mikel Arteta turning his focus towards the capture of a world-class winger if he can first shift on two unwanted stars and with Fabrizio Romano providing an update on the agreement for Mikel Merino.
The Gunners open their Premier League campaign with a home clash against Wolves on Saturday afternoon, hoping this can finally be their season after finishing as runners-up in the previous two years. And while transfer additions so far at Arsenal this summer have been limited to just the permanent signing of David Raya and the €45m (£38.4m) signing of Riccardo Calafiori, signing number three is now just around the corner.
Indeed, after weeks of negotiations, Arsenal on Friday night finally secured a breakthrough with Real Sociedad to bring Merino back to the Premier League from the LaLiga side.
The Euro 2024 winner previously spent an underwhelming time of things with Newcastle, where he made just 25 appearances across two seasons before departing for Sociedad, where has has since spent the six seasons.
Now regarded as one of LaLiga’s best central midfielders, the Gunners quickly identified the experienced star as a prime target this summer and an ideal midfield partner for Declan Rice in their engine room.
And while Arteta quickly persuaded the 28-year-old to move to north London, reaching a breakthrough on his fee with Sociedad has been a long, drawn-out process.
