Mikel Arteta defends ‘unbelievable’ Arsenal star after Jamie Carragher criticism
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has defended his £32m signing Mikel Merino following criticism from Jamie Carragher.
Merino signed a four-year deal with the Gunners after completing a big-money move from La Liga side Real Sociedad last summer.
The 28-year-old has started just a third of Arsenal’s Premier League games this season and Carragher recently questioned Arteta’s move for the Spaniard.
Writing in a column for The Telegraph earlier this month, Carragher said: ‘Prioritising signing midfielder Mikel Merino ahead of another attacker last summer looks like a mistake. Merino is not a game-changer.’
Carragher also questioned Arsenal’s £32m deal on a recent episode of The Overlap, saying: ‘I look at the business you did in the summer and the midfielder who came in, I wasn’t quite sure why or where he would fit in or play.’
But Arteta believes Merino has been showing some ‘very good’ signs in recent weeks and says the midfielder has been ‘quite unfortunate’ with injuries since arriving at the Emirates Stadium.
Merino missed Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Wolves on Saturday but returned to training earlier this week ahead a huge Premier League clash with Manchester City this weekend.
‘He’s been quite unfortunate, to be honest,’ Arteta said at his pre-Champions League press conference on Tuesday evening. ‘But Mikel’s character is unbelievable.
‘He’s so determined and now he has some rhythm, some momentum and has had some very good moments in the last few weeks with us.
‘Unfortunately he had a little niggle but it was nothing serious, but we play every two and a half days so you miss two matches. He’s fit again and available and it’s great to have him in the team.’
Merino joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad last summer
Arsenal conclude their promising Champions League group campaign against Girona on Wednesday night. The Gunners are third in the 36-strong table ahead of the final round of group games.
‘We’re here to win the game and in order to do that we’re going to have to be better than them,’ Arteta said.
‘They’re a really good side, if you look at the games they’ve played in the Champions League against top opposition, they’ve made life very difficult for them.
‘So tomorrow it will be a very strong team in order to achieve what we want to do because mathematically the qualifying at the moment is uncertain.’