Arsenal £33m midfielder Mikel Merino ruled out for few weeks

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that new signing Mikel Merino will be out of action for ‘a few weeks’ after suffering a shoulder injury during his first training session with the club.

Merino joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad in a £33million deal and was expected to make his Gunners debut against Brighton on Saturday. However, the EURO 2024 winner will have to wait until late September or early October.

Speaking to the press ahead of their match against Brighton, Arteta noted that Merino will be out for some few weeks following an accidental training ground clash with Arsenal defender Gabriel.

‘Yes, very unfortunate,’ Arteta told reporters on Friday. ‘Yesterday he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks.

‘He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and Gabi landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably.’ The coach was seemingly referring to Arsenal defender Gabriel, rather than Gabriel Martinelli or Gabriel Jesus.

“It looks like he has got a small fracture probably,” Arteta continued. “We have to see [how long he will be out], he was in so much pain. We have to wait to do some more tests. Then we will have more conclusive answers. This is football.”

Merino will be eager to return to action after the first international break of the season.