Mikel Merino emerged as Arsenal’s unlikely saviour as he came off the bench to score a clinical brace during their 2-0 victory against Leicester City.
Previously, Merino expressed his desire to play up front and the former Real Sociedad midfielder was granted his wish by Mikel Arteta as he looked the part as an emergency striker.
The Spaniard’s patience was rewarded, with Ethan Nwaneri listening to Merino’s advice and delivering a pinpoint cross in the lead-up to his first goal.
Leandro Trossard also spotted a free Merino inside the box, who scored a tap-in after a simply brilliant delivery from the Belgian in what was a deserved win for Arsenal.
The European Championship winner would have been delighted after the triumph as he has had a difficult return to the Premier League so far.
Martin Odegaard pushed Mikel Merino to celebrate during Leicester City vs Arsenal
Troy Deeney questioned Merino’s quality despite him scoring the winner in Arsenal’s 3-1 win against Brentford.
Jamie Carragher doubted whether Arsenal needed Merino as one of their summer signings.
But as all top players do, Merino did his talking on the pitch against Leicester and after scoring his second goal, Martin Odegaard pushed his teammate to do his trademark celebration in front of the fans.
The Pamplona-born dynamo proceeded to listen to Odegaard, with his celebration especially having a special meaning as it is inspired his father and former Osasuna star Angel Merino.
Interestingly, Arsenal had concerns about signing Merino when they initially deliberated over whether to make a move for him.
However, Mikel Arteta pushed to complete his countryman’s signing.
Arteta clearly seems to back Merino, as demonstrated by the fact that he was confident that the box-to-box midfielder could do a job as a centre-forward.
In the aftermath of Arsenal’s latest win, the man of the moment revealed his manager’s bold prediction as well.