Merino praises Arsenal squad's unwavering commitment to winning trophies

Merino made his debut for the Gunners in their 2-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Despite his injury hindering his integration into the team up until now, he was thrilled to finally be back on the pitch.

“To come in here, you want to have a nice few days to show everybody what you are capable of, to show why they have put faith in you and then the first thing that happens is you break your scapula,” said Merino. 

“It is tough to recover from that mentally. Everybody here in the club was really nice to me, really lovely, you could feel the love and support of everybody. 

“It was such an unlucky moment. If you see the action… it’s just …I mean… I haven’t seen an injury like this ever in my career. 

“But, well, these are things that happen. Obviously, it was not the best timing, but at the same time I like to look at the pros, the bright side of it. 

The midfielder says the rest and recovery have helped him improve as a player as he looks to earn his spot in an Arsenal side that are on top form. 

“This gave me a lot of time to think, to get to know my team-mates, to get to know the staff, to work on myself, the things that I need to do in terms of tactics, in terms of physicality and I think I am a much better player now than I was four weeks ago.” 

The former Real Sociedad star also spoke on training at the North London club which he says is nothing like he has experienced before. 

“It’s something that is amazing, to be honest with you. They do some things that I have never seen in my career. The methods they use are completely new to me, so obviously it takes some time to adapt. 

“I don’t want to tell everything that we do, but there is no rest between one moment and the other. They are always challenging you mentally with different stimuluses. It makes you always all the time aware of what is happening around you. 

“I think that when you get it, you are in a different level because they challenge you every single day - not only physically, but mentally. That makes you be sharp mentally and that’s what you are going to find out in the game.” 

Merino mentioned success and how under manager Mikel Arteta he can become a better player.

“Winning trophies is the main thing here for everybody. They are obsessed with that, you can see that winning is the main thing for us. 

“The mentality that they have here is amazing, not only on the pitch, but at the training ground and how they focus on the single things, the details, the basics. 

“When I spoke to Mikel and I saw what was the plan, not only with me but the whole team, what was the culture, I felt this was the right place to be to take the next step in my career. 

“I want to grow up, I want to learn even more - and I think this is the right place to keep improving and keep winning.”