Earlier today we covered an article from Spain which stated Arsenal are stalling for Mikel Merino. The Gunners offer, which had been expected last week, still hasn’t arrived and it was suggested there’s some disagreement at Arsenal on how much they should invest in the 28-year-old.
Now Basque newspaper Noticias de Gipuzkoa report on training today and how the midfielder is happy along with Martin Zubimendi, who it’s now thought won’t be going to Liverpool.
However, the outlooks of the two players are very different.
It’s explained that whilst Merino waits for an Arsenal offer, the Premier League club don’t seem ready to pay €35m. That’s what Atletico Madrid offered and could be La Real’s asking price, although it’s certainly not firm.
Previous reports from the same newspaper, and others for that matter, have put €30m as the ambition with potentially less being realistic given Merino’s contract has less than a year to run.
Arsenal are said to have the upper hand because each day that passes is a day closer to the end of the summer window, and therefore a day less to get a biggish fee for Merino.
The Gunners’ ‘formal offer’ seems to be ‘a matter of time’, according to the report, and unlike with Zubimendi, there’s still the feeling this Real Sociedad exit will happen.
