Mikel Merino has not yet been presented as an Arsenal player. Although the London team closed its transfer with Real Sociedad in exchange for a fixed €33.5 million and another €5 million in variables, the player still has not signed his contract despite having passed the medical examination last Saturday. For now, the midfielder is training on his own, without giving details of his situation.
According to the latest information, the Pamplona player is still not clear about some aspects of his contract and, due to bureaucratic issues, the negotiation has taken longer than expected. As in LaLiga, the summer market closes next Friday, August 30 at 11:59 p.m. (11:00 P.M. CEST), although the time difference means that, in Spain, the transfer window closes an hour earlier. The agreement between the clubs is not at risk, but the footballer still has the last word.
Mikel Merino, close to emulating Martín Zubimendi?
In that sense, Mikel Merino's situation begins to resemble that of Martín Zubimendi. Two weeks ago, the midfielder seemed to have a foot and a half in Liverpool, since the Reds were willing to pay the 60 kilos of his clause. However, the one from San Sebastián ended up discarding the offer from those from Merseyside and preferred to continue with the San Sebastián team, with which he has a contract until 2027.
For FC Barcelona, the situation of the Basque players is still striking, since both were on the culé radar until recently. Merino seemed a reasonable option in terms of pivots after the Euro Cup final, but the club's problems with financial 'Fair Play' closed the door to any negotiations. If, against all odds, his signing for Arsenal fell through, it would not be unreasonable to weigh in on a Barça offensive before the market closes, but the chances of this happening are, at this point, minimal. In the Zubimendi case, the board chose to discard him after the departure of Xavi Hernández due to his price.