ARSENAL will reportedly offer the Spanish Euro 2024 winner his contract.
The Gunners are looking to strengthen their midfield to give them the final push they want to earn the Premier League name after two years in second place at Manchester City.
And the player who can do that is Real Sociedad star Mikel Merino.
Merino, 28, headed home his country’s winner in extra time against Germany in the quarter-finals.
But although he has one year left on his contract with his club, he is now thinking about his options.
According to the Spanish media Mundo Deportivo, this has put Aston Villa and Arsenal on alert about him.
They will also face festivals in Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, with the report stating that Merino has a £55 million (€65 million) clause.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is said to be a big fan of him and is keen to approve a deal that would allow Merino to win the most lucrative deal of his career, double the existing one.
Merino enjoyed a loan spell at Newcastle during the 2017/18 season from Borussia Dortmund before the Magpies signed him permanently and then sold him to Real Sociedad a few days later.
A season after his arrival, Sociedad brought in Real Madrid prodigy Martin Odegaard on loan.
BEST FREE BET SIGN-UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
The pair shared midfield that season, with Merino scoring six goals and adding a hand to Odegaard’s seven goals and nine assists in a more complex area.
After this successful stay, Odegaard found himself in North London, first on loan, before moving completely to the Emirates in 2021.
The only thing that can become a point of conflict is the opinion that Merino’s current club has about his role.
Jokin Aperribay, president of Real Sociedad for many years, and the board do not see that Merino meets all the needs of an ‘8’ and have presented him with a contract extension with that in mind.
This would likely cause Arteta a slight headache, given that his Arsenal formula deploys two competitive midfielders in similar roles, last season Odegaard and one each from Kai Havertz or Declan Rice.
However, given Arteta’s past, a successful gamble by converting striker Havertz into the position following his departure from Chelsea, this may simply be a roll of the dice that the club is willing to make.
Arsenal’s first pre-season match will take place on July 24 in Bournemouth, United States.
After that, they face Manchester United and Liverpool on the road before two games at the Emirates against Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon, with their season starting a week later against Wolves.
ARSENAL TRANSFER NEWS LIVE: All the latest offers and rumours from the Emirates
©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. “The Sun”, “Sun”, “Sun Online” are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. This service is provided under News Group Newspapers’ Limited’s popular terms and conditions, in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. To request information about a license to reproduce material, please visit our distribution site. Check out our online press kit. For other requests, please contact us. To see all content from The Sun, use the sitemap. Sun’s online site is regulated through the Independent Press Standards Organization (IPSO)
Our bloodhounds try to be accurate, but we make mistakes. For additional highlights of our court cases policy and to make a complaint, please click this link: thesun. co. uk/editorial-court cases/