Close to signing for Athletic Bilbao in the summer, Mikel Merino eventually decided to leave Borussia Dortmund for Newcastle, and Rafa Benitez appears to be relatively pleased with the 21-year-old.
Starting half the games in the Premier League, the young midfielder, who can also play at centre-back, was slowly but surely getting to grips with his new club and Premier League football, even if he hadn’t featured much over the past three weeks.
However, that could all change very quickly.
A few days ago, we relayed a claim from El Correo that Merino, born in Pamplona, was one of the few options available to Athletic Bilbao, and that they had once again turned their attention to him if Aymeric Laporte left for Manchester City.
Since that deal is on the verge of completion, AS in Spain have an update on the Newcastle player’s situation, and bottom line is: the Magpies are willing to negotiate a deal in the next couple of days.
This is echoed by Marca, who explain that were Merino to leave the club, Athletic Bilbao would be his first option, giving him the chance of playing in the Europa League.
While he would have to compete with their soon-to-be new signing Iñigo Martinez in the league, the soon-to-be ex-Real Sociedad centre-back will be cup-tied in Europe, having already featured in the competition this season.
No fee has been mentioned, but considering the Basque’s sides current financial situation following the Laporte deal and Newcastle’s desire to make money, it’ll certainly be more than the €7m the Premier League paid Borussia Dortmund for Merino in the first place.
