‘Lots of quality’: Riccardo Calafiori very impressed with £42m Arsenal star after 6 recoveries vs Forest | OneFootball

Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has heaped praise on midfielder Mikel Merino following the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

The Gunners returned to winning ways with a resounding performance against Forest. Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri were the goalscorers.

Merino got a surprise start alongside Jorginho in central midfield and he produced a good showing.

The 28-year-old had a passing accuracy of only 85 percent, but he won six duels alongside six recoveries. He also won two tackles with as many interceptions.

Shortly after the game, the Spaniard celebrated the victory on Instagram with a post which read: “Back to winning ways!! 3 points and clean sheet. Amazing support gooners! Let’s keep going together.”

Calafiori quickly replied with ‘Mucho cali’ in Spanish which means ‘Lots of quality’.

Merino has had a tough introduction to English football. His debut was delayed by four weeks after he suffered a minor shoulder fracture in training in late August.

He has since been a regular part of the matchday squad, but has taken time to adapt to the pace of the league. Merino now seems to be playing with confidence.

It will be interesting to see whether the £42 million-rated star will keep his place when the Gunners take on Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Declan Rice and Partey could be recalled back into the starting XI. The former was an unused substitute yesterday. He has been nursing a broken toe.

The Gunners are two points behind the top eight in the league phase of the competition and need to beat Sporting to avoid losing more ground.

It won’t be an easy task as Sporting CP are scoring for fun and recently dominated Manchester City.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com