Arsenal agree deal in principle to sign Merino

Arsenal have agreed a deal in principle worth up to £32.6m to sign Spain midfielder Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad.

The fee for the 28-year-old, who has less than a year remaining on his contract at the La Liga side, is an initial £28.4m plus £4.2m in add-ons.

Merino was part of the Spain team that won Euro 2024 and featured in all seven matches in the tournament, scoring a late winner against Germany in the quarter-final.

He would be Arsenal's third signing of the transfer window, after Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori and Spain goalkeeper David Raya, with the Gunners activating the option to permanently buy him from Brentford.

Merino can operate as a deeper-lying midfielder and it is thought he would complement Declan Rice, who played a 'box-to-box' role at times last season.

He would also provide Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta with another option to compete with Rice, Jorginho, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard in midfield.

Merino has previous experience of the Premier League, having spent a year at Newcastle before moving to Real Sociedad in 2018, where he played alongside Odegaard in 2019-20 when the Norwegian was on loan from Real Madrid.

Merino, who has 28 caps for Spain, made 45 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring eight goals.

Source: BBC