Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said new signing Mikel Merino might be out for a few weeks due to a shoulder injury and will not play in the home match against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Midfielder Merino, who arrived from La Liga side Real Sociedad on a long-term contract on Tuesday, suffered the injury in training this week.
“Yes, very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury, unfortunately. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
“He landed on the floor and Gabi (Gabriel Magalhaes) landed on top of him, and it looks like he has a small fracture probably. We have to see. He was in so much pain. We’ll have to do some more tests on that and then we’ll have more conclusive answers.”
Brighton has started the season positively with two straight wins, a challenge acknowledged by Arteta.
“We try to prepare like every manager and every team does by giving them the exact and relevant information that can help to win the game,” he said.
“We have tried to do the same for tomorrow against a team that is doing really well. It’s one of the teams with a new coach and a new regime. It’s going to be a tough match.”
Arteta said he was happy with the squad he had as the transfer deadline approached.
“I’m always happy with the squad. I think we have tremendous players, a magnificent group of human beings,” Arteta said.
“We always want to be better and we cannot deny that. The most important thing is to try to improve our own players and then in terms of the numbers and quality.”
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