_“This morning, I woke up and I was feeling like the first day of school.”_
Mikel Merino has returned just at the right time.
Although he was unable to play his part Arsenal’s triumphant Premier League title run-in, the Spaniard could play a key role in helping the club complete a historic double in Budapest next weekend.
The 29-year-old was welcomed back to training on Thursday morning with the customary tunnel of slaps from his teammates, followed by Arsenal great Robert Pires, who was invited to watch the session during the club’s media day.
Merino has been sidelined since the end of January with a foot injury, but is hopeful of returning as early as Sunday.
In the training session open to members of the media, the midfielder was put through an intense individual session led by Mikel Arteta and other backroom staff, as Arsenal stepped up preparations for the Champions League final.
Speaking at the dedicated media day, Merino said: _“My foot is great. I’m not even thinking about it anymore._
_“I’m just really pleased to be outside with the lads today. I’ve been training really hard, in the grass and inside with the strength and conditioning coaches and physios, trying to give everything every single day to be as close to perfection when I’m back with the team._
_“I’m very good. I feel fit. I’m ready to go,”_ he added.
Arteta previously described the injury as ‘strange’, and Merino admitted the uncertainty surrounding it made the early stages challenging.
_“I don’t know all the details. It was a stress fracture in a very strange part of the foot where not even the specialists had seen before._
_“It was a weird one. At the beginning, I was a little scared, I’m not going to lie,”_ he admitted.
_“I didn’t know examples, we didn’t have them from other people that had done the same injury. We didn’t know what to expect, what path tot take during the recovery and if I was going to be able to play again \[this season\]._
_“The first couple of weeks were tough. I tried to crack on with it, have the right mentality, be positive and with the right motivation to try to go forward. Everything has gone perfectly since.”_
The Spain international quickly became a fan favourite in North London after an impressive debut season, covering multiple roles across the pitch and even deputising at centre-forward during the _Gunners_’ injury crisis, scoring nine goals in the process.
He had also established himself as an important figure in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad ahead of this summer’s World Cup, before the injury abruptly halted his momentum.
PHOTO: Mikel Merino celebrates scoring for Spain in their EURO 2024 quarter-final match against Germany. (Credit - Alex Caparros - UEFA)
At one stage of the recovery, Merino was reliant on a mobility scooter to assist him.
_‘It was very hard to be honest,”_ he said. _“My feeling was that I was playing through pain for a little bit, but I wasn’t expecting that a big fracture was going to happen there._
_“When I got the news and they said I was going to be out around five months, I could only think about missing the World Cup, missing the end of the season with my team and not being able to help them,”_ he revealed.
_“I was devastated at the time. It took me a couple of days to recover from it. I had two options, to go down and cry myself to extinction or keep my head up, be positive and try to use my time to improve other aspects. Working as hard as I can is the way I approach life._
He added: _“With the mobility scooter it’s just trying to bring fun out of it, see the sun. I couldn’t walk for two months. It’s a hard time on crutches. The mobility scooter was a fun way to see the light of day and enjoy time with the dog.”_
Merino’s return comes at the ideal time, with the hope he can build match fitness with a potential appearance against Crystal Palace on Sunday, with the Premier League already secured, before attention turns to the club’s first Champions League final since 2006.
The spell on the sidelines has allowed the Arsenal midfielder to become one of the biggest supporters, forced to experience the drama of the title run-in from the stands rather than the pitch.
Reflecting on that experience, he said: _“It hasn’t been great to be watching from the stands. It’s a different point of view. I’m very nervous watching the team. When things are not going well you want to jump and help them on the pitch. When they are going well, you’re happy._
_“It’s been a crazy, crazy couple of months where I had to help the team in a different role. Finally I’m feeling like one of the Arsenal supporters, suffering big time and enjoying every single second when we win.”_