Mikel Merino opens up on rare injury as Arsenal handed major boost before Champions League final | OneFootball

The Arsenal midfielder has been sidelined since late January after undergoing surgery

For the first time in almost four months, Mikel Merino left his house in the morning knowing he was going to train with his Arsenal team-mates that day.

On Thursday, though, he made his return to first-team training. The Arsenal players formed a tunnel for him and slapped him on his back as he ran through.

"Honestly I woke up and I was feeling like the first day of school," Merino said.

"Being around my team-mates for the first time again, unbelievable. To get all that love from them is great."

Merino stayed on the training pitch for longer than any other player, wanting to do some extra work.

Mikel Arteta was one of those involved in the drills, pressing Merino as he received the ball under pressure and then whipping in crosses for the midfielder to attack and head into the net.

Back in training: Mikel Merino

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That was a light session and Merino is expected to take part in full training on Friday.

That will help determine what role he can play in the final eight days of the season. Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace this weekend before the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain takes centre stage next weekend.

"My foot is great," Merino said.

"I’m not even thinking about it anymore. I’m just really pleased to be outside with the lads.

"I’ve been training really hard, on the grass and inside with S&C coaches and physios, trying to give everything every single day to be as close to perfection when I’m back with the team.

"I’m very good. I feel fit. I’m ready to go."

The Spaniard is even hoping he could make the squad on Sunday at Selhurst Park.

He said: "That’s the goal. I’m with the team. Whenever the gaffer needs, I’ll be ready to do whatever he wants."

I’m not even thinking about it anymore. I’m just really pleased to be outside with the lads

Mikel Merino

Merino played an important role in Arsenal's charge to the top of the table in the first half of the season.

When Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus were all out injured, Merino started five league matches in a row up front from November to early December, scoring two goals and registering three assists.

He also netted a brace against Slavia Prague in the Champions League in that period.

Merino then captained Arsenal against Portsmouth in January and was one of the best players on the pitch. However, later that month his season came to a crashing halt.

He scored off the bench in the defeat to Manchester United but in that cameo suffered what would prove to be a serious and complicated injury.

"It’s a stress fracture in a very strange part of the foot where not even the specialists had seen before," Merino said.

"It was a weird one. At the beginning I was a little scared, I’m not going to lie. I didn’t know examples, we didn’t have them from other people that had done the same injury.

"We didn’t know what to expect, what path to take during the recovery and if I was going to be able to play again [this season]."

Merino had already been managing some pain, playing through that, but it quickly became clear this injury was going to necessitate a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

"When I got the news and they said I was going to be out around five months, I could only think about missing the World Cup, missing the end of the season with my team and not being able to help them," Merino said.

"I was devastated at the time. It took me a couple of days to recover from it."

Mikel Merino has not played since scoring in the 3-2 loss to Manchester United in January

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Unable to put any weight on his foot in the early stages of his recovery, Merino used a mobility scooter as a way to get out of the house and maintain some semblance of a routine. He would drive through the park on it so he could still take his dog on walks.

Just getting out of the house was important to Merino as he battled with the mental strain of a long-term injury.

"I had two options - to go down and cry myself to extinction or keep my head up, be positive and try to use my time to improve other aspects," he said.

"Working as hard as I can is the way I approach life.

"With the mobility scooter it’s just trying to bring fun out of it, see the sun. I couldn’t walk for two months. It’s a hard time on crutches.

"The mobility scooter was a fun way to see the light of day and enjoy time with the dog."

Merino is part of Arsenal's seven-man leadership group. While on the sidelines, he made an effort to still be around his team-mates as much as possible over the past four months.

Even when he was on crutches, the Spaniard has watched the warm-ups at home matches from the touchline. That support has been reciprocated.

"Every time they saw me they were asking me how I was doing, if I was better," Merino said.

"Telling me they were rooting for me and that I was going to get back soon enough to help them and score a header in the Champions League final."

The mobility scooter was a fun way to see the light of day and enjoy time with the dog

Mikel Merino

If there are no further setbacks, there is every chance Merino will get the chance to try and make those words a reality in Budapest on May 30.

It will be a relief for him to be back on the pitch. In his absence, Arsenal have wrapped up the Premier League title. Merino, though, has been a "very nervous" watcher of that rollercoaster ride.

He said: "It’s been a crazy, crazy couple of months where I had to help the team in a different role.

"Finally I’m feeling like one of the Arsenal supporters, suffering big time and enjoying every single second when we win."