Arsenal star's World Cup in doubt due to mysterious injury | OneFootball

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino may be a doubt for the rest of the club season and perhaps even the 2026 World Cup in the summer due to a mysterious injury.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta explained that Merino’s injury is a rare one, so there’s not a clear idea of when the Spain international will be back to fitness, though for the time being it is being treated as pretty serious.

Numerous outlets have reported that Merino is almost certainly out for the rest of the season, meaning he’ll miss the title run-in with Arsenal, while his participation at the World Cup could also be in doubt.

This will be a blow for fans of the Spanish national team as they start making their own preparations for the tournament and looking into how to buy Spain World Cup tickets as their country aims to lift the trophy this summer.

What Mikel Arteta has said about Mikel Merino’s injury

As quoted by Arsenal’s official site recently, Arteta made it clear that Merino’s injury looked serious and would require a procedure.

Describing it as a “big blow”, Arteta said: “He (Merino) needs to go through a procedure, which is not always positive. He’s a big player for us, a player that has such versatility and capacity to compete in various positions, and that’s a big blow.

Mikel Merino applauds the Arsenal fans (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

“It’s a very rare injury so we have to wait and see once we have the surgery, how that reacts daily, obviously monitor it throughout the week for the surgery and see.

“I know Mikel is going to do absolutely everything that he possibly can to come back as quick as possible. But as well you have to respect the healing process and the fact that obviously it’s an injury that is quite rare.”

Mikel Merino will be missed by Arsenal and Spain

Anyone who’s watched him closely will surely agree that Merino is one of the most underrated footballers in today’s game.

The 29-year-old has put in a series of superb displays whether playing in midfield or as a makeshift striker for Arsenal, and he has a surprisingly good scoring record.

With 15 goals in 77 appearances for Arsenal, and eight goals in his last ten games for Spain, Merino has shown how valuable he can be as he really starts to establish himself quite late on in his career.

Spain have fellow Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi as another key part of their midfield, as well as other big names like Manchester City’s Rodri and Barcelona’s Pedri, so they certainly aren’t short of other quality options in that area of the pitch.

At the same time, however, Merino offers some unique qualities that a lot of others can’t, and Arsenal fans will have to hope he can perhaps return earlier than expected, and that his absence doesn’t prove too costly as they compete for the Premier League and Carabao Cup in the months to come.