Real Sociedad give latest update on Arsenal pursuit of Mikel Merino

Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay has given an honest update on the future of midfielder Mikel Merino, with more talks set to be held over a possible transfer to Arsenal.

Arsenal have been reported in recent days to be "closing in" on a deal for the Euro 2024 winner worth almost £30m. But that hasn’t been finalised yet and Aperribay has confirmed that Real Sociedad will sit down with the Gunners to hammer things out.

The president also noted that it is Merino's preference to return to the Premier League, which his current club accept. The Spaniard previously spent a season at Newcastle United, aged 21.

"Last week we had a meeting with Arsenal, on Saturday we had another conversation and we haven't had any more," Aperribay said of the current situation.

"We will have one this week and we will see how the conversations progress. We are going to defend the interests of Real and, when we consider that the operation is the right one for the interests of Real, we will say yes, but not before then.

"Mikel feels very much like a Real fan, but he told us that, if a Premier League team came, he wanted to fulfil his dream of returning to the Premier League and trying to be successful and that, if not, we would talk about renewing.

"When I was in Japan [during pre-season], [sporting director] Roberto [Olabe] called to tell me that Arsenal had called us and from that conversation we knew that Mikel was going to say yes to Arsenal. We would have liked him not to have come or to have done it earlier."

Merino was left out of Real Sociedad's squad for their La Liga opener against Rayo Vallecano over the weekend, but he did attend the game with his Euro 2024 medal to greet fans.

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