After James Justin silenced the home crowd in the second half, the Gunners responded with champions’ composure. Riccardo Calafiori quickly leveled the score before Bruno Guimaraes came off the bench to smash home a spectacular winner to earn the home side the triumph.
Mikel Arteta’s side now sit level on points with league leaders Manchester City, who play Liverpool on Sunday. Victory restores momentum in north London, but squad stability remains under the spotlight amid fresh transfer noise involving Mikel Merino and whispers of a blockbuster January swap.
Arsenal are reportedly still eyeing Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez having missed out on the striker during the summer window. The Argentine international pushed for a move away from Madrid and sought Barcelona as his only possible departure, but bad blood between the two clubs stopped a move from happening.
According to Sport, Arteta remains intent on landing the 26-year-old and would consider a swap deal that would send Viktor Gyokeres in the opposite direction. The Swedish frontman has fallen out of favour in the Gunners’ starting line-up and is yet to find the net in six matches across all competitions.
Spanish reports on Saturday indicated that Atletico are giving serious consideration to allowing Alvarez to depart in January. It has been an equally troubled start to the season for the attacker, who has managed just 173 minutes of football, with the drawn-out summer saga continuing to cast a shadow over the new campaign, compounded further by a number of muscular problems.
Mikel Merino has endured a predominantly peripheral role at Arsenal this season, despite featuring prominently in Spain’s World Cup success this past summer. It’s a scenario that may not continue much longer following remarks made by the midfielder’s father, Miguel.
Merino Sr. featured on Goles con Parrado to address his son’s career and was questioned whether the 30-year-old could potentially return to La Liga. The Spaniard’s father indicated his son would favour joining a Champions League club should a departure from north London materialise.
Miguel said: “If he comes to La Liga, well, I suppose he’ll want to continue in that rhythm of competing in the Champions League and keeping that motivation, but obviously he’s in a comfortable situation there at Arsenal, isn’t he? Because he’s experiencing exactly what he wanted when he left Real Sociedad.”
Arsenal secured Merino in a £27million transfer from Real Sociedad, and Miguel was pressed on why Real Madrid failed to pursue him. Steadfast in his belief in his son’s abilities, he responded: “Well, look, it’s not just about Real Madrid.
“I think he’s a player who’s at Arsenal and has won the Premier League, has reached the Champions League final, he got to the semi-finals last year. He’s part of a world class squad, so he’s a world class player.”
