At a Glance:
Arsenal have built a team of physically imposing players in recent years.
However, the Gunners have the second-slowest player in the Premier League.
The man in question only ranks below Will Hughes in terms of pace.
Mikel Arteta has built a team full of physically impressive players at Arsenal in recent years, although not everyone in his squad possesses blistering pace, new data has revealed.
The Gunners are currently embroiled in an intense Premier League title race, as they sit level with Manchester City on points with five games left to play. The Citizens overtook Arteta’s outfit at the top on goals scored on Wednesday night when they narrowly beat Burnley at Turf Moor, and the title could genuinely come down to margins as slim as this.
Arsenal have consistently outrun their opponents this season, doing so in all but one of their league games. Clearly, Arteta has prioritised bolstering the physical profile of his squad over the technical profile in recent years, and while they have muscle everywhere, they still lack speed in certain areas of the pitch.
Arsenal star ranked as the second slowest player in the Premier League
Arsenal have tended to have one or two blatantly slow and immobile players in their ranks at all times over the last decade or so. For a while, it was Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud, before Jorginho took this mantle more recently.
On paper, nobody particularly springs to mind regarding a lack of pace in the current Arsenal squad. However, the Gunners actually have a player in their midst who has registered the second-slowest top speed in the entire league (outfielders only) this term.
That man is Mikel Merino, whose quickest recorded speed this term is 29.84 km/h, ranking only above Crystal Palace’s Will Hughes in the speedometer. That’s according to Opta Analyst’s new data.
The list of players who struggle to run quickly includes Casemiro, Bernardo Silva, Tomas Soucek, Pascal Gross and Adam Wharton. Some excellent players, although not exactly the most fierce athletes in the division.
Merino sustained a serious injury in January and hasn’t featured since for the Gunners, meaning he’s had less time on the pitch than some of these other players to record a quicker pace. That said, not many Arsenal supporters would dispute that Merino isn’t the sharpest over a few yards, and that his skills lie elsewhere.
How much are Arsenal missing Mikel Merino?
Merino is no longer using crutches and is said to be just a matter of weeks away from running again. While this means a return for Arsenal this campaign is unlikely, he does stand a good chance of making Spain’s squad for the World Cup.
The Gunners have missed Merino’s physicality, technical quality in and around the box, and his ability to pop up with a goal. However, perhaps more than anything, they’ve missed simply having him as an option.
⏪ Last time out against Brentford…
Merino hammers it down 🔨
🤝 @BitPanda_Global pic.twitter.com/TtmTxM5prN
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 12, 2026
Arteta has been forced to call upon Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice for almost every minute of every single important game since Merino’s injury. If they’d had the Spanish midfielder, both Zubimendi and Rice would’ve been offered some respite and wouldn’t be looking like they’re burning out in the latter stages of this season.