“All parties are optimistic” – Arsenal transfer talks “advancing well”, player confident he’ll join Gunners

August 15, 2024Ligue 1

Fabrizio Romano says all parties are optimistic over the Mikel Merino to Arsenal transfer saga as it’s advancing well and the player is confident he’ll be joining the Gunners before the end of the window.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for the latest edition of his Daily Briefing column, Romano provided his latest update on the Merino saga to explain why it’s been dragging on for some time.

Arsenal have been talking to Merino’s club Real Sociedad for nearly a month now, and he describes it as a verbal exchange to try to find the right structure of the deal for all parties, but it seems things are moving in a positive direction.

The transfer news expert insists the clubs are in frequent contact, so Merino expects he will eventually become an Arsenal player, and that other interested clubs like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are aware of his decision.

Mikel Merino celebrates a goal for Spain

The Spain international has impressed in his time in La Liga and also had some strong moments at Euro 2024 earlier this summer, picking up a winners’ medal for his efforts, so it would be exciting to see what he could do in the Premier League.

Merino transfer update from Fabrizio Romano

“Arsenal are in constant contact with Real Sociedad over the transfer of Mikel Merino. In football there are different kinds of negotiations – one year ago Arsenal made an official bid for Declan Rice and they got an answer, or there can be more of a verbal exchange club-to-club. This is what Arsenal did with Riccardo Calafiori, for example, so that’s why that also took a lot of time,” Romano said.