Real Sociedad President Jokin Aperribay has confirmed that star midfielder Mikel Merino already has offers on the table to leave the club. The 27-year-old has a year left on his deal, and is expected to leave the club amid interest from Barcelona, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
Merino has not renewed his deal, and Aperribay admitted that it was a sure sign that he was keen to leave this summer. The Spain international’s stock grew at Euro 2024 too, and last week Arsenal got back in touch with his agent.
“I think Mikel has been very sincere with Real. He has had a renewal offer for a year and if he has not renewed it, it is because he did not want to tell the Real fans that he is staying and then leave, and I think that speaks well of him, ” Aperribay told the press, including Sport.
Barça will earn €11m this pre-season. €5m for their friendly against Real Madrid, and €3m for the games against Manchester City and Milan. @JijantesFC
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 30, 2024
It appears he is not yet keen on a move to Atletico Madrid though, who tried to move for him, but Merino was not receptive to their proposal. Real Sociedad will negotiate with any party though, should he ask them to.
“I would like him not to leave, we would all like that, but if he tells us that he accepts any of the offers he has on the table and wants us to negotiate, we will do so. We know he has them, and we know their details. But at this moment we continue to hope that Mikel Merino will continue at Real,” Aperribay noted.
It has been widely reported that Merino is keen on a move to the Premier League, but Football España were informed last week that the Basque midfielder will not rush into a decision, and would rather make the call with all the options on the table. How long he is willing to wait for Barcelona to make an offer could be the key – they are currently working on a star forward signing first.
