Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has announced that new signing Mikel Merino will be sidelined for a “few weeks” due to a shoulder injury sustained during his first training session with the club.
Merino, who joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad in a £31.6 million transfer on Tuesday, was injured when he collided with a teammate during training on Thursday. The 28-year-old midfielder suffered a “small fracture” and will be unavailable for several weeks.
Merino is Arsenal’s second signing of the summer, following the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna.
“Yes very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and he has got a shoulder injury, unfortunately. It looks like he is going to be out for a few weeks,” said Arteta.
“He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and Gabi landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably.
“We have to see. He was in so much pain, we have to wait to do some more tests.”
Arsenal have won both of their opening Premier League fixtures, beating Wolves and Aston Villa.
The Gunners host Brighton – one of the other three teams in the division with a 100% record so far this term – at the Emirates on Saturday.