Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended his £32 million signing Mikel Merino after former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher questioned the midfielder's impact on the team.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended his £32 million signing Mikel Merino against criticism from former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher . Merino joined the Gunners from La Liga side Real Sociedad last summer on a four-year contract. The 28-year-old midfielder has made only a third of Arsenal 's Premier League starts this season, prompting Carragher to question Arteta's decision to prioritize Merino over another attacking player.
Carragher, writing in his Telegraph column earlier this month, stated, 'Prioritising signing midfielder Mikel Merino ahead of another attacker last summer looks like a mistake. Merino is not a game-changer.' He echoed these sentiments on The Overlap, stating, '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.' However, Arteta believes Merino has shown encouraging signs in recent weeks and attributes his limited playing time to unfortunate injuries sustained since arriving at the Emirates Stadium. Merino missed Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday but returned to training earlier this week ahead of a crucial Premier League match against Manchester City. 'He’s been quite unfortunate, to be honest,' Arteta said in his pre-Champions League press conference on Tuesday. '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, and the Gunners aim to conclude their Champions League group campaign on a high note against Girona on Wednesday. Arsenal currently sit third in the 36-team standings ahead of the final group stage matches. Arteta acknowledged the threat posed by Girona, stating, 'We're here to win the game and in order to do that we're going to have to be better than them. 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.
Mikel Merino Mikel Arteta Jamie Carragher Arsenal Premier League Real Sociedad Champions League
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