For a player that Arsenal were willing to get rid of, Granit Xhaka’s rise to being so irreplaceable by the end of his final season is all the more remarkable. It is a credit to himself and Mikel Arteta that things ended as well as they did.
Since his exit in July 2023 Arsenal have done plenty to try and fill the void. First, it was Kai Havertz, picked to operate initially as a left-sided No.8 crashing into the box but offering the technical skill from deep to dictate play.
Havertz’s change as a player hasn’t led to Arteta being able to rely on him regularly from deep. Declan Rice moved from the base of midfield, leaving Jorginho and Thomas Partey as the more orthodox No.6 metronome, and then Mikel Merino was signed.
His first six months or so in England haven’t shown too many signs to suggest he will be the replacement for Xhaka that Arteta is looking for either. Granted that what he is asking his left-sided No.8 to do is different to in the 2022/23 season, the balance is still necessary between defence and attack with physicality and some goal production.
Right now Merino is offering very little in any of these aspects, although he is filling a role and had a far from ideal introduction. Missing pre-season and then arriving so late over the summer has not helped. An early injury delayed his debut and then being thrown into a team without Martin Odegaard and with structural issues plus injury problems has only added to the challenge.
The good thing for Arsenal, who are now getting able to select from all of their midfield stocks, is that in Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly they have two additional options. Nwaneri, in particular, has made a big impact from the right side whether as a winger or as cover for Odegaard.
