Mik Merino: Page 22 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Mik Merino

Claudius

daredevil it’s frustrating. Havertz and Raya went through the exact same process.

Coombs

Nah, this is rewriting history. Merino has done well since Kai got injured but he was not the signing we needed to win the league this season. 28-year-old journeyman CM who came good as a makeshift striker is more a testament to the Mikels than to the transfer.

The signing doesn't suddenly make sense just because of the manager and players' good work against the odds.

flobaba

Coombs why doesn't it make sense? Made perfect sense to me. You're getting someone who can play both the 6 and 8 at a high level, and is premiership proven. Gives you cover for both Rice and Partey, (to different degrees of course), and is a strong aerial threat and has a strong shot). Why would anyone say no to that.

And again, it wasn't because of him we didn't sign a striker or winger...

kamikaze

Coombs It made sense bc we ran Rice and Havertz into the ground last season, and we needed cover. He's also a Jorginho replacement in the sense that he's a high football IQ / manager on the pitch type.

Mirth

He was signed as a squad player and he’s delivered against the brief.

We should have gone a different route but now that we’re here I can see him being a key part of the squad going forward

lorddulaarsenal

Mirth if we win the champo leagueo you could argue we went the right route

Coombs

Mirth this is fair.

Coombs

flobaba You're getting someone who can play both the 6 and 8 at a high level, and is premiership proven.

It made sense as a squad option, but 35m was no squad fee and he has never played very well at 8, nor ever at 6 as far as I can remember.

flobaba

And now he has shown the ability to play CF in our system, he's unlocked an option for us. Suddenly we are deeper in 3 positions instead of just two. That is some steep value appreciation right there.

Claudius

Coombs when top midfielders are£100m, then £35m is a reasonable figure for a squad player on a title contender.

flobaba

How much would you consider an adequate
fee for a midfielder with experience in their prime , joining a title challenging team?

Qwiss

Coombs lets be honest here he didn't prove anything in the PL before this season. Never really had a chance to settle at Newcastle so calling him "premiership proven" is a bit silly. Its like signing Fabio Vieira in 3 years time and saying he's "Premiership proven".

USArsenal I said this earlier in the season before he had his chance up front.

Claudius agree there. I think people need to accept that market as it is. A 4th man in this midfield is going to cost that much. Merino was decent business in isolation. Its what we didn't do last summer that hurt us and will continue to for seasons to come.

Burnwinter

He looks far better than a £35m player currently. I'm a bit cautious about saying he'll be a key player going ahead: only some players can continue to be influential when they're not starting regularly, and I don't think he will start too regularly.

CPM

The fee is base £27.4m, maxing out at £31.6m from what I can see. It's not £35m.

Burnwinter

CPM Fair play. The figure I actually had in mind for him was £29m. Either way it's a very good fee. Merino's a "Trossard" in the scheme of things, but he's been contributing at a very, very high level in a time of need. Smart enough to play on till he's slightly older than the average as well.

JazzG

Coombs Any foreign player that comes in needs time to settle in, he came in and got injured straight away and clearly took him a bit of time to find his feet. By Christmas some of our own fans had already written him off as a flop and that isn't right.

He was signed as depth for our midfield, knowing we are most likely going to lose Partey + Jorginho this summer so rather than trying to bed in two CMs next season we can get one settled in. My point is he wasn't the reason we are short in other positions, his signing was very much needed for current and future midfield depth. Technically secure player, he is a smart player on the pitch and very good at winning the ball. Age wise a little older than I'd like but for a depth signing he is very handy.

Coombs

JazzG I was told he was premiership proven.

Gazza M

JazzG beyond the usual new league/country settling in phase, centre mid is probably the most complicated position to adapt to in artetas system. you need a solid 6 months of regular play time to find a rhythm in there. he had all the right ingredients on paper to he successful here. I'm glad he's showing what an asset he can be

USArsenal

Dare we say that Merino is this team's version of Edu?

lorddulaarsenal

USArsenal no he’s better than Edu was.

Mirth

USArsenal at the moment he’s this team’s Edu, Parlour and Wiltord rolled into one.

We actually have gotten away with things season - our squad depth is really poor given the number of games we play. MLS, Nwaneri stepping up as quickly as they did and Merino being versatile were high risk bets that paid off.

Burnwinter

Coombs Merino broke his shoulder in training more or less the day he arrived. Can't really plan for that, or are we saying that you can?

Coombs

Burnwinter did his shoulder break because he is foreign? I'm confused.

It's great that he's come good in a totally unexpected and somewhat bizarre manner. It's a good thing. But it shouldn't be a reason to revise what was a very legitimate frustration with this signing for the majority of this season. Hope he kicks on and is part of winning us the league next year, but this season he is still part of a massive opportunity missed.

Win the CL and its all moot. I just refuse to absolve the club for last summer's failures just because the Mikels eventually, painfully, and laboriously came to a workable solution before the whole season slipped away.

banduan

JazzG I get people like the high risk passing but a few times this season it has got us into trouble.

I mean... that's why it's called high risk passing?

Burnwinter

banduan What we want is low risk high risk passi—wait a sec.

JazzG

banduan Indeed, but my point is we don’t need a high risk passer in that position. We need someone who gives us complete control not someone taking unnecessary risks. We need better version of current Jorginho not another Partey imo.

« Previous Page Next Page »