Mikel Arteta has given an injury update on summer arrival Mikel Merino, who suffered a fractured shoulder during his first training session with Arsenal.

The Spanish midfielder made the move to north London from Real Sociedad in August after being identified as a key target for the Gunners during the summer transfer window. However, the club were rocked on the eve of his potential debut, against Brighton & Hove Albion, after receiving news that the Euro 2024 winner would be sidelined after suffering a nasty injury in training.

It was later revealed that Merino had fractured his shoulder and would need two months to recover. The news came as a blow for Arsenal, but boss Arteta has confirmed that the player is doing ‘better’.

“It is a slow process because it is a bone and it takes a while to heal,” he told reporters ahead of Sunday’s north London derby. “He is progressing well and he is already doing some stuff.

“He is working extremely hard. We are using this time as well to make sure he understands a lot of things that he has a lot of questions about, so when he is back he is ready to go and impact the team.

“It is very difficult to understand the healing of the bone. I think at the moment he does not have a lot of symptoms, so you can speed up [his recovery] very quickly because he has not lost anything else, but we have to wait and see.”

Arsenal are set to face rivals Tottenham Hostpur in the north London derby on Sunday. They will do so with, potentially, two senior midfielders available after Declan Rice’s controversial red card against Brighton and Martin Odegaard’s brutal injury while on international duty with Norway.

Thomas Partey and Jorginho remain Arteta’s only other senior midfielders after Fabio Vieira’s loan move to Porto, however Kai Havertz – who began his Arsenal career in midfield before excelling as a striker – could drop back if needed.

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