Mikel Merino was the unlikely hero for Arsenal on Saturday, as the Spanish midfielder jumped of the bench and scored twice as an emergency striker to give them a big 2-0 win at Leicester City.
With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus out for the rest of the season and wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka both out, Arsenal only have three forwards right now in Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and brilliant youngster Ethan Nwaneri.
Can Merino be the unlikely answer for Arsenal?
Maybe now they have four, because Merino timed his runs to perfection as the holding midfielder arrived into the box twice and finished off two fine crosses with calm, clinical finishes.
Merino has arrived in the box on several occasions this season but hasn’t quite had the calmness to finish off every time. That’s also not his job as he’s usually playing as a holding midfielder.
But in a desperation situation with no recognized number nine in the squad for the rest of the season, Merino could step up and give himself an unlikely spot in the team. He’s not going to start in midfield lost weeks with Rice, Odegaard and Partey around. So why not start up front and make the most of his obvious quality in big moments? Sometimes these kind of bizarre situations totally change the career of a player.
Look, Merino may not play up top every week but Mikel Arteta has stumbled upon a possible solution to Arsenal’s injury crisis.
Mikel Merino reaction to his two-goal performance
“He [Arteta] told me I was going to come in as a striker,” Merino told TNT Sports in the UK. “This morning we were talking about it a little bit with one of the assistants. Honestly it was a surprise because this is the first time in my career that I play in that position. He told me to go as a striker, make sure to go with my strengths, luckily I could help the team with two goals today.”
Are we going to see more of Merino up top?
“I don’t know. I don’t think so to be honest. It’s funny because I’ve only scored two more braces in my career. It is the first time I’ve scored two coming off the bench, as a striker, but I think it’s a good day today to score. I forgot to give my wife something for Valentines Day, so this goes to her. I think she will appreciate this more than a rose or some chocolates!”
“Today was a tough day. We knew coming here to this amazing stadium with this team battling relegation it was going to be tough. But you know these games are the ones that leave their spirit. Obviously with these amazing fans [Arsenal’s supporters] behind us everything is easier. Thank you to them, to everyone at home pushing and rooting for us. This is an amazing team and games like today are really good for the squad.”
Asked about Ethan Nwaneri, who set up his first goal, Merino waxed lyrical about the teenager.
“He’s an amazing player. He is such a talent. Luckily for him today he grabbed the ball. I’ve been telling him all season I needed those kind of balls when I’m arriving into the box. He has such a wonderful left foot that he put it right on my head so I could only score.”
And Merino was of course asked about the title race.
“This is a long, long season. We’ve been talking about it since the beginning. This is a long run we have to keep the foot on the gas. I think if we keep doing this job, putting pressure on every single game, good things will come in the future.”
