Mikel Arteta confirms Arsenal injury blow for Mikel Merino ahead of Brighton clash

Mikel Arteta has provided an update on the fitness of Mikel Merino ahead of Arsenal's Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Spanish international finally completed his much anticipated move Real Sociedad this week for an initial fee of £27.4million. He had been due to make his debut at Emirates Stadium this Saturday and took part in training at the Sobha Realty Centre.

However, it is thought that the 28-year-old suffered a shoulder problem after an innocuous collision with Gabriel Magalhaes during his first session with the club.. He tried to continue but eventually had to stop. Now Arteta has given the latest on his new signing.

"Yes, very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury unfortunately. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks.

"He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and (Big) Gabi landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably."

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It is not clear how long Merino will be out for. Arteta confirmed though that the Spaniard will undergo examinations in the coming days to confirm the extend of the injury.

"We have to see. He was in so much pain. We’ll have to do some more tests on that and then we’ll have more conclusive answers."

It's terrible luck for Merino who has played at least 40 club games in each of his past three seasons. It also leaves Arsenal slightly short in the midfield where they have let Emile Smith Rowe and Mohamed Elneny go this summer.

The Gunners are also set to allow Eddie Nketiah to follow out of the exit door. The England international is set to complete a £30million move to Crystal Palace on transfer deadline day.

This has left Arsenal sweating somewhat on the fitness of Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian missed last weekend's 2-0 win over Aston Villa with a groin problem and will not be in contention for Saturday's match with Brighton. Arteta did sound more positive on his prospects of returning after the international break though.

"He is progressing really well," Arteta said of Jesus. "He had a little muscle injury and he is doing quite a lot of stuff already, so we expect him to be with us pretty soon."

Takehiro Tomiyasu looks likely to be out for a bit longer however, after Arteta confirmed that he has still not returned to training after suffering a knee injury in July. "At the moment, it’s difficult to say," he said of when the Japanese international is likely to return. "It’s a bit slow the process of the first phase of that injury. It’s probably for the medical team to say more on that."