Mikel Merino Admits To “Exchanging Messages” With Martin Odegaard Before Joining

By The Editor
on 28th August 2024

Merino set to reunite with Odegaard…

Arsenal new boy Mikel Merino admitted that he’s been exchanging messages with Martin Odegaard before he made the move to north London official, the midfielder told Arsenal.com.

Merino and Odegaard shared a dressing room during the 2019/20 season as the latter spent a season on loan at Real Sociedad – with the pair striking up a good understanding.

Merino played in a deeper midfield role during that campaign and with Odegaard lining up as the team’s No.10, finding the Norwegian between the lines was his objective.

Now, after completing his £32 million move from San Sebastian, the 28-year-old is looking forward to picking up where the two left off four years ago.

“Yes, we exchanged some messages a few days ago,” the Euro 2024 winner said.

““He told me he was really happy for me to take this next step in my life. It was amazing sharing the pitch with him back in the day. I have a lot of good memories of our connection and hopefully we can have an even better connection here.

““I remember a pretty good play we made against Osasuna away, where we had a one-two and it finished in a goal for us. But just in general, in every training, in every game I think we had a good connection,” Merino added.

While Merino often played behind Odegaard during their Sociedad days, they’ll likely find themselves operating alongside each other for Arsenal.

The plan seems to be for the aforementioned duo to be the floating eight’s, while Declan Rice returns to his best position as the sole anchoring midfielder.

Given Merino was absent from Real Sociedad’s pre-season games as he waited for the move to materialise, one expects his impact on the pitch will come after the international break.