Barcelona expecting leading midfield target to join Arsenal | OneFootball

La Liga giants Barcelona view it as increasingly likely that a leading figure on the club’s summer transfer wishlist will ultimately end up on the books of Arsenal.

That’s according to Diario Sport, who point towards Mikel Merino as the player in question.

The name of midfielder Merino has of course taken its place in the headlines in Catalunya’s capital throughout much of the summer to date.

As much comes amid the widespread understanding that new Blaugrana head coach Hansi Flick considers the Spanish international as the ideal addition to his engine room ranks.

With just a year remaining on his Real Sociedad contract, it had in turn been suggested that cash-strapped Barca could sanction a cut-price swoop for Merino.

As alluded to above, though, if the latest word to have surfaced in the media on Wednesday is anything to go by, Deco and co. are facing increasingly up to the prospect of missing out on Merino.

This comes with the 28-year-old seemingly inching towards a move to the Premier League.

As per a report from Sport:

‘Merino’s future will probably lie with Arsenal, as Barcelona see his signing as almost impossible and the player himself prefers to play in the Premier League than at Atlético Madrid, another of his suitors.’

This situation would only change in the case of Barcelona finding a buyer for Frenkie de Jong.

Conor Laird | GSFN