Why isn’t Mikel Merino playing for Arsenal against Brighton in the Premier League today?

After coming up just short in their attempt to wrestle the Premier League title away from Manchester City last season, Arsenal weren’t especially active in the summer 2024 transfer window. Defender Riccardo Calafiori was brought in from Bologna in July, with Euro 2024 winner Mikel Merino joining from Real Sociedad only a few days ago. The Italian could make his second appearance for The Gunners against Brighton, but Mikel Arteta faces an unexpected wait to have his fellow Spaniard at his disposal.

After officially signing for Arsenal on Tuesday, Arteta revealed on Friday that Merino had suffered a shoulder injury in his first very training session following a collision with centre-back Gabriel Magalhães.

How long will Mikel Merino be out for?

“Very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision, and he has a shoulder injury,” explained Arteta. “It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks. He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor, and Gabi landed on top of him, and it looks like he has a small fracture probably.”

More specifically, Merino is set to be absent for between six and eight weeks, which means he is likely to miss a minimum of eight Games.

Arsenal also made goalkeeper David Raya’s loan move from Brentford permanent during the summer transfer window, while Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith-Rowe and Eddie Nketiah, neither of whom were regulars, have moved to Southampton, Fulham and Crystal Palace respectively.