Arteta Says Arsenal’s Merino Has Earned Right to Be Considered as Striker

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says midfielder Mikel Merino has justified being considered for a striking role—even when all of the club’s forwards are fully fit.

Merino, who arrived from Real Sociedad in August 2024, had never featured as a centre-forward before joining Arsenal. But injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus saw the Spaniard step into the No. 9 role, where he impressed with nine goals in his debut season at the Emirates.

The 29-year-old has continued that form, scoring 11 goals for club and country this term as Arsenal sit top of the Premier League.

Asked whether Merino could remain an option up front once the squad is complete, Arteta replied:
“I think he has earned at least the thinking behind it with the way he’s performing and the impact that he’s bringing to the team, so that’s a ‘Yes’.”

Arteta also revealed that Merino could play in a fluid front line alongside Havertz, Viktor Gyökeres or Jesus.
“There are things that we have prepared during the summer because of the squad that we have, and so far we haven’t been able to do,” he added.

The manager said the club is monitoring the fitness of Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba ahead of Saturday’s visit to third-placed Aston Villa. Rice was substituted late in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Brentford, while Trossard and Saliba have missed the last two matches.

“We have another training session in the afternoon,” Arteta said. “Every hour is going to be very important to see the availability of the players.”

Reflecting on recurrent injury issues, the Spaniard noted lessons learned from last season:
“We have injuries that are totally uncontrollable… This season, a lot of other things happened as well. Learn from the things that we can control and the areas that we can improve.”

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