Mikel Merino makes Martin Odegaard Arsenal feelings clear with Arteta to unleash £166m midfield

Mikel Merino has sent a clear Arsenal message to Martin Odegaard amid his impending injury return. The Gunners captain has missed the last seven weeks with an ankle injury picked up in action for Norway, though he is in line to return very soon after making his first team training appearance in some time on Monday.

"The positive news is that Martin is great to have him back," Arteta said in his press conference when asked about Odegaard. "He's trained with us for the first time. A full session today. He felt good.

"He's a bit earlier than we expected but he wanted to be with the team so we'll decide tomorrow whether to use him or not but at least it's a big step that he's travelled with us and is part of the team." Arteta's comments certainly suggest he will not be prominently involved, however just his presence will likely be a boost.

The Gunners have missed a creative spark while Odegaard, signed for just an initial £30million, has been injured with Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and others all struggling to make up for his absence. As Arteta does not have a clear replacement, he has trialled several different formations and tactical tweaks with minimal success.

Because of exactly that, the Arsenal squad will be delighted at the sight of Odegaard out on the grass at London Colney with Merino certainly one of those. On Instagram, he posted a story of himself and Odegaard, captioned: "Back! @odegaard.98," with the latter jumping on his back while both former Real Sociedad stars smiled.

Merino has often found himself in advanced positions with the Spain international bagging his first goal for the club in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool since his £31.6million switch. Injuries in defence have also seen Arsenal's £105million record signing Declan Rice pushed back into defensive midfield with Thomas Partey at right-back.

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The return of Odegaard will certainly change things with Arteta finally having the chance to unleash his dream midfield of Rice, Merino and Odegaard. All three have been deployed in advanced midfield roles this season which makes it especially likely Arteta uses every member of the trio against teams they are likely to dominate.

As the Arsenal boss craves control, one of Jorginho or Partey anchoring the engine room in challenging away fixtures more often that not is plausible. However, Arteta will have certainly dreamt of deploying Merino, Odegaard and Rice as his midfield three and his chance to do that is firmly on the horizon.