ARSENAL have reached an agreement to sign Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad.
The Spanish midfielder is set to join the Gunners for a fee of around £32.6m, with £28.4m paid up front and £4.2m in add-ons.
Merino, 28 – a long-term target of boss Mikel Arteta – is due to have a medical ahead of signing a four-year deal with the option of a further 12 months.
Arsenal initially wanted to land Merino for around £25m but improved their offer after back-and-forth negotiations with Sociedad.
But their new £33m offer has been accepted on Thursday, according to transfer guru David Ornstein.
The signing will be Arsenal’s third of the summer, taking their total tally to just over £100m after also spending £27m on David Raya and £42m on Riccardo Calafiori.
Arteta was keen to bolster the midfield and sees the Euros-winning Spain international – who had one year left on his Sociedad deal – as a perfect fit.
Sociedad boss Imanol Alguacil said it was ‘the best solution’, amid the transfer speculation while Club president Jokin Aperribay was in London to thrash out the deal.
Merino’s first choice was always Arsenal, despite being linked with several top European sides, including Juventus.
He has played 242 times for Real Sociedad over the past six years, while he has also racked up 28 caps for La Roja.
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He helped Spain to win Euro 2024 last month, after scoring the winner in their 2-1 quarter-final win over Germany.
The Spaniard was omitted from Real Sociedad’s squad to face Real Vallecano as they kicked off their LaLiga campaign with a 2-1 defeat.
Merino came through the ranks at Osasuna before having spells at Borussia Dortmund and St James’ Park.
The left side of the midfield has been a slight weakness in Arsenal’s build-up after Granit Xhaka left for Bayer Leverkusen and Kai Havertz was found unsuitable to fill the role.
It adds much needed depth to the Emirates midfield – something they often missed last season.
Arsenal need to counter Manchester City’s squad depth – as they missed out on the title to Pep Guardiola for the second successive year last season.
Merino enjoyed success with Sociedad from 2018 onwards alongside two current Prem stars: Alexander Isak and Martin Odegaard.
Odegaard, who was on loan from Real Madrid at the time, created nine chances for Merino in the 2019-20 season — the third-most prolific partnership in the side.
The move should be completed in the next 24 hours but Merino is unlikely to be included in the squad to face Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday evening.
