Mikel Merino on Andrea Berta links

Arsenal star Mikel Merino has spoken out on the potential appointment of Andrea Berta as the club’s new sporting director to replace Edu.

The Spain international joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad last summer and has enjoyed a decent first season at the Emirates Stadium.

“I had an offer from Arsenal but walked out of a BIZARRE meeting with Arsene Wenger” – which legendary figure has no regrets about turning down the Gunners?

Still, it’s also been a bit of a strange one for Merino as he’s recently been asked to fill in as a makeshift striker due to the Gunners’ major injury crisis in that area of their squad.

So far, it’s not gone too badly for Merino, and he spoke about that and other things in an interview with Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport.

Mikel Merino on new role for Arsenal and Andrea Berta’s potential arrival

When asked about the Berta to Arsenal links, Merino said: “I don’t know if it’s official; anyway, I don’t know anything.

“But I do know one thing: I’ll ask for a striker’s contract. They earn more, and now I have to cover two roles too!”

Merino looks like he’s enjoying his time in north London and it will be interesting to see how the 28-year-old’s career progresses from here.

One imagines he won’t be an automatic starter in the long run, but it’s clear that Mikel Arteta has found himself a very useful squad player who can fill in in a variety of roles and show a good attitude.

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Merino has six goals in 33 games for Arsenal this season, and most of those have come since he recently made the move to filling in up front.

The former Real Sociedad man scored the winner against Chelsea last week, and also hit a brace in the recent win away to Leicester City, as well as being among the scorers in that emphatic 7-1 win away to PSV in the Champions League.