Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on midfielder Mikel Merino ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to newly-promoted Sunderland.
The Gunners have picked up 10 straight wins across all competitions, and they have not conceded a single goal in any of the previous eight games.
This has contributed to the upturn in league form. The club are presently six points clear at the top of the table and could extend their lead this weekend.
Ahead of tomorrow’s game at the Stadium of Light, Arteta was posed with plenty of questions. One of those was on Mikel Merino’s makeshift striker role.
The Spaniard is primarily a central or defensive midfielder, but he has been brilliant as an emergency number nine for Arsenal since February this year.
Merino has netted nine goals and provided three assists from 17 appearances in the position. This includes a Champions League brace against Slavia Prague this week.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said that Merino is such an ‘intelligent’ and ‘competitive’ player who can adapt to any position.
He told Arsenal.com: “He’s such an intelligent and competitive player that he can adapt to any position, because first of all, he’s so willing to do his very best, to understand what he needs to do.
“He’s always asking questions and he’s a winner. Wherever he plays, the only thing he wants is to win, to contribute to the team, and when you have that mindset, things normally go well for you.”
Merino has had only two starts as a number nine this campaign, but he has been deployed as a striker whenever Arteta has decided to substitute Viktor Gyokeres.
The £31 million-rated star is widely expected to start when the Gunners face the Black Cats tomorrow.
Gyokeres has already been ruled out with a muscle injury. There are no fit specialist strikers, with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus also unlikely to make the trip.
Jesus has returned to team training after a lengthy injury lay-off of almost 11 months. The Brazilian is may return to the playing field after the international break.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com