Could Merino be Arsenal’s number nine?

Few people anticipated asking if Mikel Merino could become Arsenal’s number nine when he left Real Sociedad in August 2024.

He made his debut at Emirates Stadium as a 28-year-old Spain midfielder with more than 200 La Liga appearances and a Euros title. He has never been a striker.

Even considering that some of Arsenal’s walking wounded are returning, Merino is a serious contender to become their main frontman a year later.

In the absence of injured trio Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Viktor Gyokeres, he again showed his worth as a makeshift striker in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

In a 2-0 victory over Leicester in February, he came on as a substitute and scored twice, marking the first time in his professional career that he had played as a striker.

Mikel Arteta has not signed a midfielder who has become his starting forward before.

Kai Havertz initially played mostly as a midfielder for Arsenal, but when fit, he quickly became Arteta’s preferred choice.

Hasrtz has a strong foundation in that role thanks to his physical prowess, pitch intelligence, and ability to score goals. These traits are present in Merino as well.

However, Havertz’s ability to score goals has previously been questioned. In response, Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres in a £64 million deal in July.

At Portuguese side Sporting, Gyokeres have 97 goals in 102 games. He has scored six goals, four of them in the Premier League, in 15 appearances for Arsenal overall.

However, Gyokeres continues to be questioned about his suitability for Arsenal.

Merino has shown he can deliver in big games in the interim. He has three goals and two assists in his previous five goals as a striker.

The 29-year-old scored eight goals, five of which came from headers, making him the top scorer for Arsenal in the Premier League in 2025.

Given that they have more attacking options, Arteta will be thrilled to welcome back both Gyokeres and Brazilian Gabriel Jesus. However, it seems unlikely that the Swedish team’s big-money signing will ever rejoin.

Gyokeres, who had a hamstring problem for almost a month out with a hamstring problem, will need more time to recover. Arsenal’s attack has performed admirably with Merino running the middle in his absence.

In his 22 games as a forward this season, the Gunners have won 22 goals. And they have scored 13 goals from open play in his previous five games of play alone, with 11 of those coming from open play.

This campaign, Arsenal have been accused of relying heavily on set pieces. Minero’s attack seems to add a new dimension.

He is a very different player from Gyokeres, who constantly runs behind a backline and uses his strength to slam defenders.

Merino has a well-tower-tower height of 6 feet, but he also has a different approach to making room for his teammates.

And headers account for seven of his ten Premier League goals. Only former Ipswich and Leicester striker James Scowcroft has ever scored ten or more goals with his head in the history of the competition (eight percent of his 14 top-flight goals were scored between 2000 and 2004).

Leandro Trossard’s opening goal in the 4-1 win against Tottenham on November 23 shows how deep Merino has started to drop deep into midfield to let the wingers and midfielders around him travel into space.

Eberechi Eze has also benefited from this, with his best appearance for Arsenal coming in a hat-trick against Spurs as the highlight of his recent outing.

Merino is a regular midfielder for his country, and he is regarded as one of the squad’s most tactically aware players at Arsenal.

He has already joined the leadership team at Arsenal.

“To score goals is always good.” said Minero. The team’s main benefit is getting a point or winning games, they say.

I’ve been playing striker lately, and I’m making moves in the right places to help my team find me.

He has been asking team-mates for advice as part of the makeshift frontman’s improvement effort.

He said, “I tried to ask the strikers that played for us last year if they could offer me some advice on how to position myself in the box and stay on the right side of defenders.”

Merino scored his 20th goal for Spain and Arsenal in the match against Chelsea, and Arteta claimed that he “can smell danger.”