Rafael Benitez didn’t want to reveal the full extent of Mikel Merino’s back injury when speaking about the young Spaniard recently, but a Spanish newspaper has done it for him.
Diario AS, in their Thursday edition, claim Merino is set to be missing at Newcastle United for ‘between six and eight weeks’ due to a back injury. To be specific, AS state Merino is having ‘some problems with a vertebrae’.
There’s Spanish interest because the injury has forced Merino to pull out of the country’s U21 squad.
To do that the Newcastle United player will have had to provide a reason, and with medical details more widely shared in Spain, newspapers even employ doctors who often give an independent view, the down time has found its way to the media.
Benitez will be loathe to lose Merino for a such a period and will hope the Spanish slant is on the cautious side, and perhaps the player can respond more quickly to treatment.
That Mikel Merino’s loss over such a period is so important shows how well the 21 year old has been doing since his summer switch from Borussia Dortmund.
Newcastle United made the initial loan permanent in October, after being quickly impressed by the player.
