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David Raya shares what Mikel Merino does that makes him a natural fit as a striker at Arsenal
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino is the talk of the town after his brilliant brace against Leicester City last week.
Not only is Merino not a striker by trade, but the Arsenal star had never even played up front before, not even in training.
Mikel Arteta only told Merino he’d be playing up front for Arsenal on the morning of the Leicester game, the player confirmed after the match.
Arteta then revealed that he confidently told Merino he would score when he came off the bench, which proved to be an accurate prediction.
Now, David Raya has shared why he feels Merino has the necessary tools to do well as a striker as he revealed what he told the midfielder after the game.
READ MORE: Arsenal could sign striker who’s ‘one of the best in the world’ for just £33m
David Raya says he told Mikel Merino he knew he would score
Raya, speaking on the Seaman Says podcast, talked about the injury crisis up front and how it meant players would have to play in different position.
He went on to talk about Merino and how well he did when brought on as a striker. Raya revealed he told Merino that he knew the £32million man was going to score.
“Obviously we have a lot of injuries and people going to have to play in different positions, like Mikel Merino,” said Raya. “Played as a striker and then he just scores two goals!”
When asked whether Merino knew he was going to play up front, Raya replied: “Yeah, when I saw him coming on and play and talking to Declan, they were speaking, ‘oh, are we playing with false nine, diamond, two strikers and a diamond? ‘No, I’m a striker!’
“I was thinking ‘he’s going to score!’. I told him after the game, I said he’s ‘going to come on and score, and then 10 minutes later you just scored!'”
Raya then corroborated that Merino hadn’t ever done any training work as a striker, but his key traits – such as intelligence, reading of the game and aerial skills – make him a good fit.
“He didn’t train as a striker once, he just came on and then, because he’s so intelligent and he reads the game very well, he gets into that position and then the header was magnificent,” continued Raya.
“He reads the game very well, obviously I know him from playing with the (Spain) national team.
“He scored a very similar goal in the Euros against Germany and that was as a number eight.
“But those type of balls for him are his bread and butter – he’s so good in the air, he reads the ball very, very well, and then it’s just a fantastic header.”
Whether Mikel Arteta will play Mikel Merino up front against West Ham
Arteta gave little away on the prospect of Merino starting up front when speaking to the press ahead of Saturday’s game against West Ham.
However, he suggested he’s more than willing to do so, implying Merino and the players around him are “comfortable” with it.
“Well, I think, obviously, every time you play a player, you are betting on that player.
“What is that bet? I’m prepared to bet a certain amount of money to earn a lot and not to bet a lot to earn very little.
“At the end, that’s by putting players in positions and in roles and surrounding our players that we believe it makes sense, and it can work and they are comfortable with it.”
When asked whether Merino had been training as a striker, the Arsenal boss replied: “We trained the last few weeks with different players. He’s been one of them. With other players as well.
“It’s not only how you can finish a game, how you start a game, how you change if the opponent does something different. Every three days as well, we’re going to need different options.”