Arsenal star Mikel Merino suffered an injury scare in Saturday’s Premier League draw away at Everton.
The Arsenal midfielder finished the game with a bandage around his head after a clash in the first half.
In addition, Merino was spotted pulling up whilst warming up at Goodison Park, appearing to grab his groin muscle, but he went on to play.
After the game, which finished 1-1, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was asked about Merino’s fitness at his post-match press conference.
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Mikel Merino ‘fine’ after head injury scare in Arsenal draw at Everton
Arteta was asked how Merino was feeling after suffering a knock to the head, and he replied that there wasn’t much to worry about.
“He’s fine, I just checked with the doctor,” Arteta said, as quoted by football.london.
“He had a cut, so he was bleeding quite a lot in the first half, then he started again, so overall he wasn’t feeling anything.”
Arteta was also asked whether there were any other injury concerns after the game, to which he simply replied: “No.”
The news comes as a welcome boost for an Arsenal side struggling with injuries ahead of a huge Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid.
Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all on the sidelines at present.
What Mikel Merino is like behind the scenes
Merino has exceeded expectations since being asked to fill in as a centre-forward, despite having never played or even trained in that position before February.
However, the Spaniard now has six goals from his last 11 appearances, the kind of tally that any bona fide striker would be happy to have.
Merino returned to the midfield against Everton, with Leandro Trossard playing up front this time.
Prior to the game, Arteta was jokingly asked by reporters how he would convince Merino to slot back into midfield.
Arteta went on to praise Merino’s qualities, sharing what he’s like behind the scenes.
“I already did that (convince him to return to midfield) because I played him as an eight the other day when we brought Leo in, so we discussed that,” Arteta said.
“He’s a joy to work with and that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to bring him to the club because he’s so versatile.
“He’s very intelligent and he loves the game and he loves to understand the game and the reason why we have certain players to do what we want them to do.
“Mikel understood immediately, explaining his qualities, what the team needs in that moment and how he can benefit from being in those positions and demanding that the role he can do as a number nine with his qualities, not comparing to anybody else and judge his performances on that basis.”
