- Arsenal signed Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad on Tuesday
- Merino has since been out for ‘a few weeks’ after being injured in training
- LISTEN NOW: It’s all about to begin!available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said new signing Mikel Merino will be out for “a few weeks” after suffering a shoulder injury in his first training session with the club.
Merino, who joined from Real Sociedad in Spain for £33million, was hoping to make his debut for the Gunners against Brighton on Saturday.
However, he will have to wait until late September or early October after an accidental training ground clash with Arsenal defender Gabriel.
“Yes, very unfortunate,” Arteta told reporters on Friday. “Yesterday he had a collision and unfortunately he has a shoulder injury. It looks like he will be out for a couple of weeks.
‘First session with us. It looked exciting, we were all very excited, everything looked very good… he landed on the ground and Gabi got on top of him.
Midfielder Mikel Merino completed a £33million move from Real Sociedad to Arsenal earlier this week
Merino (left) is shown around Arsenal’s training ground by technical director Edu
Arsenal’s new signing has since had his debut postponed after injuring his shoulder in training
Gunners defender Gabriel (left) apparently fell on Merino (not in picture) on Thursday
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said of Merino: ‘It looks like he’ll be out for a few weeks’
It looks like he has a small fracture.
We’ll have to see [how long he will be out]. He was in so much pain. We have to wait to do some more tests, then we will have more conclusive answers. This is football.’
More to come.