Arsenal have agreed a deal in principle worth up to 38.5m euros (£32.67m) to sign Spain midfielder Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad.
The fee is an initial 33.5m euros (£28.43m), plus 5m euros (£4.24m) euros in add-ons.
Merino was part of the Spain team that won Euro 2024 and featured in all seven matches in the tournament, scoring a late winner against Germany in the quarter-final.
The 28-year-old has less than a year remaining on his contract at La Liga side Real Sociedad.
Merino would be Arsenal’s third signing of the transfer window, after Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori and Spain goalkeeper David Raya, with the Gunners activating the option to permanently buy him from Brentford.
He can operate as a deeper-lying midfielder and it is thought he would complement Declan Rice, who played a ‘box-to-box’ role at times last season.
He would also provide Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta with another option to compete with Rice, Jorginho, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard in midfield.
Merino has previous experience of the Premier League, having spent a year at Newcastle before moving to Real Sociedad in 2018, where he played alongside Odegaard in 2019-20 when the Norwegian was on loan from Real Madrid.
Merino, who has 28 caps for Spain, made 45 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring eight goals.
Read More: Mikel Merino: Arsenal agree 38.5m euro deal with Real Sociedad in principle
