Arsenal Transfer News: Fabrizio Romano makes bold Mikel Merino claim

Arsenal fans, it's time for the weekly Arsenal transfer news roundup from everybody's favourite transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano.

With two weeks remaining in the summer transfer window, Arsenal fans expect their transfer business to heat up in the coming weeks. If Mikel Arteta has any further plans, then deals must be completed within two weeks.

One name which has been doing the rounds a lot over the last few weeks is Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino. Currently playing for Real Socieded, the EURO 2024 winner is believed to a figure of interest from Mikel Arteta. He has a £55.7m release clause, but Mikel Arteta will understandably want to lower this price.

Thankfully, Fabrizio Romano has provided a bold update on Arsenal's pursuit for Mikel Merino.

Arsenal Transfer News: Fabrizio Romano makes bold Mikel Merino claim

Speaking as part of his Daily Briefing, Fabrizio Romano has claimed that the deal between Mikel Merino and Arsenal is advancing well. In fact, Mikel Merino expects to be an Arsenal player before the end of the summer transfer window.

In fact, courtesy of his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano echoed the belief that Mikel Merino has agreed personal terms to join Arsenal, so the player is keen. He has a certain fixation on playing under Mikel Arteta and would like to become an Arsenal player.

What is likely taking long, then, is the club negotiations. As mentioned, there is a £55.7m clause which Arsenal could activate to sign Mikel Merino. However, the growing belief is that Merino could be available for less than half of this price.

In fact, Standard has claimed that Arsenal could sign Mikel Merino for as little as £25m to £30m. Therefore, it is understandable why Mikel Arteta and Edu are keen on negotiating the price down to what would be a complete transfer coup for Arsenal.

For context, Arsenal are looking to obtain a higher fee for Eddie Nketiah. So, the sale of Nketiah would essentially fund the signing of Mikel Merino, in an ideal world.

That said, it is worth noting that Mikel Merino isn't the be-all or end-all. While talks for personal terms aren't proving an issue, Arsenal have other midfielders in mind, should they resort to looking at alternatives. We have compiled a four-man shortlist of Mikel Merino transfer alternatives.

What do you make of this week's Arsenal transfer news?

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