Real Sociedad manager Imanol Alguacil underlined Mikel Merino's elite mentality when speaking about his proposed move to Arsenal on Sunday. The midfielder is believed to be on the verge of joining the Gunners to become Mikel Arteta's second signing of the summer window.
Arsenal will reportedly pay around £30million to sign Merino, who is thought to be excited about the prospect of playing in the Premier League. It seems likely that his move will be officially confirmed before Arsenal travel to Aston Villa for their next Premier League match on Saturday.
Earlier this week, Alguacil confirmed that Merino would not be involved in Real Sociedad's opening game of the season against Rayo Vallecano. They ended up losing without him in the middle of the park and it seems clear that he has already played his final minutes for the La Liga club.
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Alguacil issued a glowing review of Merino's character after the final whistle, insisting that he knows the midfielder will stay committed to Real Sociedad 'to the death'. He also spoke highly of Martin Zubimendi, who recently turned down the opportunity to join Liverpool.
"Both are there, one is not on the list and the other is in the squad," said Alguacil. "They still belong to Real and both are going to be with the team to the death. Nothing changes, I said it yesterday. Those of us who are there will go all out to win the game and then we’ll see who is there for the next one."
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Merino's impressive outlook is likely to go down well with Arteta, who has made it clear that he will not sign players who fail to show the right personality traits regardless of their ability on the pitch.
He underlined the importance of bringing good characters into the dressing room back in 2021, saying: "In my opinion, it is vital. It is crucial. A team is formed by individuals who have the same purpose and to have the same purpose you have to trust each other.
"You have to be connected with each other. You have to create energy between each other. To do that, there has to be some affection, some love, some belief between them. That only happens when you like what you see, you like the characters and you feel connected with them."
