The full story of Mikel Merino’s Arsenal striker stint as Kai Havertz injury forces revival
Mikel Merino has had huge success playing at centre-forward for Arsenal(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Kai Havertz’s hamstring injury has raised the chance that Spaniard Mikel Merino will be getting opportunities again at centre-forward for Arsenal. This would be the third season running the midfielder-by-trade could be used again up top.
In 2024/25, injuries to all of Arsenal’s centre-forwards, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, forced Mikel Arteta to consider the former Real Sociedad man. Even the Spanish national team began to see Merino as a force in the final third of the field, and Luis de la Fuente has tasked Merino in several games to play as high up the field as possible alongside Mikel Oyarzabal.
The story began at Leicester City for Merino, with Leandro Trossard initially picked in the role, flanked by Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling, with a major injury crisis in the attacking line. With the game at 0-0, in the 69th minute Merino was brought on for Sterling, with Trossard moving to left wing, and the Spaniard was tasked to play in the forward line.
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He would score twice, winning the game and sparking a new cult hero status amongst supporters. Speaking after the game, Merino admitted that even he didn’t know the day before he could be used in the role.
"Arteta told me I was going to come in as a striker," Merino told TNT Sports after the game. "We were talking this morning about it with one of the assistants, and honestly, it was a surprise.
"It's the first time in my career I've played in that position. But he told me to go as a striker, make sure I go with my strengths. Luckily, I could help the team with two goals."
In the following weeks, Merino would start against West Ham United, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, but with far less success, the Gunners failing to win all three games. Some might question why Arteta continued with Merino, but before the United game, Merino was again picked up top in the UEFA Champions League away win over PSV Eindhoven, in which Arsenal scored seven goals, Merino claiming one and an assist.
After keeping his place against Chelsea and Fulham, in which he would score in both games that the Gunners edged by a single goal, the famous two-legged clash with Real Madrid followed in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. In the 3-0 home win Merino would score Arsenal’s third, and in the away leg he would set up both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to complete the historic fixture.
With the turn of the 2025/26 season and the arrival of Viktor Gyokeres and the recovery of Havertz, the idea that Merino would again be used up top seemed bizarre. But Havertz was taken out on the opening day by Manuel Ugarte and discovered he’d suffered a knee injury that needed surgery, ruling him out for half the season.
Gyokeres would play but Merino became an option from the bench. But when the Swede also got injured away at Burnley, Merino again was thrown into the striker role.
He kicked off the run scoring twice away at Slavia Praha in the Champions League, and returned to Premier League action with an assist away from home at Sunderland, and then in the home clash with Spurs.
But the run kept going. He’d score away at Chelsea in the 1-1 battle of Stamford Bridge, and then both score and assist at home to Brentford in a 2-0 victory. The run came to an end away at Aston Villa, with a poor first half performance resulting in Gyokeres coming back on at half-time, and a 2-1 defeat was the last time Merino has featured meaningfully in the position.
It means after 23 appearances, Merino currently has a goal record of 10 goals and six assists. Meaning he has a goal contribution rate per appearance of 0.7, better than Havertz (0.62) and Gyokeres (0.41).
Even when it comes to goals per appearance for Merino (0.43), he is better than Havertz (0.42) and Gyokeres (0.35). So perhaps when considering who replaces the German should he be out for an extended period, Merino has the most impressive CV between him and Gyokeres.
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