Arsenal finally got their Premier League season off on Saturday afternoon with a polished 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, capping off a lengthy but exciting preseason.

Aside from a few careless passes and other errors, Mikel Arteta’s team won rather easily. This should give them confidence going into this weekend’s far more difficult away match against Aston Villa.

The club’s transfer activity, meanwhile, has undoubtedly not given the supporters much hope this summer, since Italian defender Riccardo Calafirori is the only new player to join the first squad thus far.

Arsenal Calafiori

That might be about to change, though, according to recent reports, as the newest star is being linked to a move to the Emirates and may be able to help Martin Odegaard.

News about Arsenal transfers

Arsenal is getting close to acquiring Mikel Merino, according to a new report from GIVEMESPORT.

Arsenal-Mikel-Merino-Spain

Actually, the story goes one step further and says that because they have made “significant progress” in their negotiations with Real Sociedad, the deal might be finalized in the “next 24 hours.”

The piece also reveals that, despite the Basque club’s initial demand of over £40 million for their star midfield player, the actual price will likely be closer to £25 million, in part because of his contract’s early expiration.

Real-Mikel-Sociedad-Merino

Though Merino’s performance this season and during the summer makes it a fair price, especially if he can help release Odegaard, it’s still a big number of money.

How Merino was able to open Odegaard

Merino could assist get more out of Odegaard this season for three key reasons, the first of which being his defensive efforts.

Arsenal-Merino

Along with Declan Rice, the Sociedad star will be able to provide even more stability and solidity to the Gunners midfield, which should free up the Norwegian wizard to concentrate on the offensive end of the pitch and boost his output. The Sociedad star is expected to start at the Emirates in the left eight position.

For instance, the 28-year-old ranks in the top 1% of midfielders for tackles in the attacking third and aerial duels won, the top 6% for ball recoveries, the top 11% for clearances, and the top 17% for tackles overall, all per ninety. FBref compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League, and the Europa League.

Not only does he excel in aerial duels, but Squawka claims that he was the only player in the top seven leagues in Europe to win over 300 duels in the previous season, with a total of 326 wins.

Aside from the duels, these stats wouldn’t be particularly impressive when compared to a pure defensive midfielder. They are, however, clearly good for a central midfielder who is also expected to assist in attack.

Regarding attacking play, the 6′ 2″ “giant” that data analyst Ben Mattinson called him would be helpful to the Gunners’ captain in this regard as well. In his 45 appearances for La Real the previous season, he scored eight goals and provided five assists, which is again fairly outstanding for a central midfielder.

Furthermore, his exceptional duels skills should be advantageous going forward. This means that he would be a fantastic outlet for David Raya to go long from a goal-kick and a similarly disruptive presence for opposing keepers attempting to do the same by getting to the ball first and creating a break for someone like Odegaard.

The mere fact that they have previously played together and performed admirably is the last reason the Pamplona-born star could be able to get more from the former Real Madrid star.

The captain of the Gunners played in midfield alongside Merino for La Real during his loan period during the 2019–20 season, and it was during this campaign that the Basque club won the Copa del Rey for just the third time in their history.

El Ray, Odegaard, Merino, Copa

Even while this familiarity might only slightly improve their performance against Arsenal, it might be sufficient in a game of narrow margins.

In the end, even though it’s taking forever for this transaction to close, the Gunners made a great choice by signing Merino this summer, and he will undoubtedly have a big impact on the squad—particularly with regard to Odegaard.