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For most Premier League managers, a frontline shorn of six attackers would spell an identity crisis.
That includes Mikel Arteta, last season. But not any more.
Once again, the player fixing his problems up front is Mikel Merino — the all-purpose problem-solver who has become Arsenal’s Swiss Army knife.
From February onwards last season, Merino was played at No9 out of desperation, as there were no other viable options up top following injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. Havertz’s severe hamstring injury on a mid-season trip to Dubai was particularly punishing, coming days after Arsenal had decided not to bring in reinforcements in January.
Nine months later, Havertz is sidelined again, Jesus is still working his way back, and the £64million solution signed to avoid such a scenario, Viktor Gyokeres, is also injured.
So here we are again, with Merino the only option left to Arteta. But this is a different animal to the one we saw last season.
Once again, the player fixing Mikel Arteta's problems up front is Mikel Merino — the all-purpose problem-solver who has become Arsenal’s Swiss Army knife
Merino is a much different player to the makeshift striker who filled in up front at the end of last season
The Spaniard has 19 goals in 2025 for club and country, a dramatic transformation for a player who arrived as a box-to-box midfielder a little over 12 months ago
This Merino has been transformed by Arteta, who had long identified the player as someone with the traits and ability to be devastating in the box.
For Spain, he has six goals in his last four World Cup qualifiers — only Erling Haaland and Memphis Depay have more (12 and six respectively) in the European section of qualifying.
It’s a run that has carried the 29-year-old’s 2025 tally to 19 for club and country. Those numbers belong to a striker, not the box-to-box midfielder he was ostensibly signed to be.
Behind the scenes, the work at Arsenal to transform Merino into a finisher is paying off.
Arsenal’s success this season is primarily thanks to their impregnable defence. But the other layer is their ability to find goals even without their front-line forwards.
When Gyokeres limped off at half-time against Burnley last week, he joined Noni Madueke, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Havertz and Jesus in the treatment room – a significant chunk of the squad removed just a quarter of the way into the season.
But instead of wallowing in his misfortune — which Arteta very nearly did on Monday when he suggested that his club’s squad depth isn’t as deep as some observers suggest — the Spaniard sees it is an invitation, a challenge.
Havertz arrived as a drifting, left-sided No8 in midfield. It wasn’t the most successful experiment, but then he found his feet as a No9 and has 24 Arsenal goals since making the switch. And it’s a common theme.
Arsenal are without six front-line attackers, including Noni Madueke (left), Viktor Gyokeres (centre) and Kai Havertz (right)
Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber have become marauding full backs under Arteta
Merino embodies Arteta's ethos that adaptability matters, with Arsenal's squad full of players who have changed roles
At the other end of the pitch, Riccardo Calafiori has shifted from his favoured centre back role to left back, and has become a marauding presence as likely to turn up in the opposition’s box as his own. Jurrien Timber has followed a similar path on the right side of defence.
Bukayo Saka went from a left back in Arteta’s first game in charge six years ago to one of the most threatening right-sided forwards in Europe. Ben White and Myles Lewis-Skelly have also shifted from the centre to the flanks since breaking into Arteta’s team.
The manager’s ethos is clear: adaptability matters. Merino embodies that.
Last season in February, when Havertz missed three months with a hamstring injury, Merino was the one who stepped forward — literally. Arteta pushed him up front for the first time at Leicester, asking him to combine midfield structure with penalty-box presence. He scored twice late on off the bench to give Arsenal a victory that kept their fading title hopes alive.
It’s understood that in the period Havertz was injured last season, Arsenal's coaching staff zeroed in on centre forward positioning with Merino in training. His finishing ability was always recognised by Arteta, but playing in an unfamiliar role take some getting used to.
Arteta said: ‘(It was about) talking to him and making sure that he plays closer to the box and identifies the opportunities, the timing, the way he needs to attack the spaces in relation to how they (the opposition) defend the box.
‘And then it's obviously his quality he will need to learn and practise every day.’
It may seem obvious now, but never before had a manager – and Merino has played under the likes of Luis Enrique, Thomas Tuchel and Luis de la Fuente – identified his ability as a goalscorer.
Arteta pushed Merino up front for the first time at Leicester in February, asking him to combine midfield structure with penalty-box presence. Merino scored twice off the bench late on
He has also become a threat for Spain, scoring six times in his last four World Cup qualifiers
His debut season with Arsenal brought nine goals, already a career high for a single campaign, including against Real Madrid, home and away against Liverpool, and a winner against Chelsea. He’s already added three more this season to go with the six for Spain.
During his six seasons at Real Sociedad, Merino played solely in central midfield, as a left-sided No8 with an emphasis on both defensive work and being the glue between midfield and attacking transitions.
At 6ft 2in, he was also one of La Liga’s best aerial midfielders. He won more duels (326) than any other player across the big five European leagues in his final season with La Real, and just like at Arsenal, was often used on set-pieces.
But now, pressed into being the focal point for goals, he has added a whole new layer to his game.
His double against Slavia Prague on Tuesday underlined that growing instinct. Within the first minute of the second half, he ghosted into the box to volley home Leandro Trossard’s cross with the composure of someone who had been a striker all his life. Twenty minutes later, he beat goalkeeper Jakub Markovic in the air to nod in Declan Rice’s delivery. One finish subtle, the other forceful — both instinctive.
This is what makes Merino’s deployment up front more than emergency patchwork. He offers something different: the physicality to contest duels, the timing to arrive late and the calmness to make first touches count.
In terms of duels per 90 minutes and success across all competitions, he was No1 for Arsenal last season (15 duels per game, winning 7.5 of them). It's true again this season (14.1 per game, winning 6.4).
When Merino starts as a false nine, Arsenal subtly reshape around him. He drops off the centre backs, links midfield, and opens half-spaces for runners – go back and watch Saka’s goal in the Bernabeu for a perfect example of how Merino's movement tears defences apart. It’s not so much that Merino becomes an out-and-out striker — it’s that the Gunners don’t need one in the traditional sense when he plays there.
Within the first minute of the second half at Slavia Prague, Merino ghosted into the box to volley home Leandro Trossard’s cross
Twenty minutes later, he beat goalkeeper Jakub Markovic in the air to nod in Declan Rice’s delivery. One finish subtle, the other forceful — both instinctive
Merino offers Arsenal something different: the physicality to contest duels, the timing to arrive late and the calmness to make first touches count
And when Arsenal have to scrap, he offers bite. He is a duel monster, and works hard in pressing.
When asked in March about being used up front against Leicester, Merino said: ‘He (Arteta) had said, “Don’t go mad”, that they had no intention of me being a standard centre forward, on the last line, attacking space.
‘It was about using my qualities: bring the ball down, do things I know how to do. Then I was lucky enough to score two goals and win the game.’
For Arsenal, those details — the timing, the aerial duels, the movement, the finishing — are what keep a title challenge alive. And that is where a player like Merino comes to the fore.
