Arsenal to hold face-to-face transfer talks on Thursday | OneFootball

Amid mixed reports on the status of Arsenal’s negotiations for Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino, it’s clear that Thursday is a key day for the deal.

STUTTGART, GERMANY: Mikel Merino of Spain celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA EURO 2024 quarter-final match between Spain and Germany at Stuttgart Arena on July 05, 2024. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Marca journalist Oscar Badallo reports that Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino is set to become an Arsenal player today, with club president Jokin Aperribay in London to finalise a €35m (£29.7m) sale.

Miguel Gonzalez of El Diario Vasco isn’t so sure, claiming there’s still a difference in valuation between Sociedad and Arsenal, and the two clubs didn’t come close enough to an agreement in their first meeting in London on Wednesday.

Mikel Recalde of Noticias de Gipuzkoa splits the difference, reporting that though a deal isn’t done yet and could still fall through, the positions aren’t far apart.

MALLORCA, SPAIN: Mikel Merino of Real Sociedad celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the LaLiga EA Sports match between RCD Mallorca and Real Sociedad at Estadi de Son Moix on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Rafa Babot/Getty Images)

All sources agree that Thursday is key for a potential deal, with negotiations ongoing.

Recalde reports that Merino’s camp have set Thursday as the deadline for the negotiation to be done, Badallo is expecting negotiations to end in agreement on Thursday, and Gonzalez at least confirms that another meeting will take place on Thursday.

It may not be long until updates start to emerge on the status of those Thursday negotiations, and we should then have a better idea of how things will pan out in the final days of the summer window.

VILLARREAL, SPAIN: Mikel Merino of Real Sociedad celebrates scoring their team’s first goal during the LaLiga EA Sports match between Villarreal CF and Real Sociedad at Estadio de la Ceramica on December 09, 2023. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

At this stage, we’re running out of time for Merino to feature in Arsenal’s squad to face Aston Villa this weekend. The deal would need to be done in the next 24 hours for that to happen, including a medical and contract signing.

Arsenal’s next game isn’t until after the transfer deadline, with the Gunners hosting Brighton on Saturday, August 31st at 12:30 BST.

Merino made 45 appearances for Sociedad last season, scoring eight goals and assisting a further five. He then joined up with Spain on international duty, featuring throughout Euro 2024 as his team ended up winning the trophy.