Arsenal fans are convinced David Raya has leaked a huge injury update on their new signing Mikel Merino.
The Spanish international completed a move to The Emirates from Real Sociedad in August to bolster their midfield options.
However, it was revealed on the eve of his potential debut that Merino suffered a freak shoulder injury in a training ground incident involving Gabriel Magalhaes.
It was later confirmed that Merino had fractured his shoulder and would need up to two months to fully recover, which has been made even more inconvenient due to Martin Odegaard's recent injury.
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Ahead of Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Spurs in the North London derby, Mikel Arteta provided an update on Merino's condition.
"It is a slow process because it is a bone and it takes a while to heal. He is progressing well and he is already doing some stuff", he explained.
"He is working extremely hard. We are using this time as well to make sure he understands a lot of things that he has a lot of questions about, so when he is back he is ready to go and impact the team.
"It is very difficult to understand the healing of the bone. I think at the moment he does not have a lot of symptoms, so you can speed up [his recovery] very quickly because he has not lost anything else, but we have to wait and see," he added.
Following Arteta's promising assessment of the situation, fans were given more hope after Merino was spotted in footage from David Raya's birthday celebrations.
Merino can be seen clapping in the clip as Raya is presented with his birthday cake, and fans have been quick to pass Merino as completely fit ahead of Arsenal's trip to the Etihad.
One fan joked: "Merino brother I see you there clapping your hands. Get your boots on buddy it’s debut time at the Etihad."
Another added: "Shouldn't be out for too long depending on the severity and it doesn't look that severe."
"That arm looking pretty well recovered there mate," a third commented.
Topics: Arsenal, Premier League, Transfer News, Mikel Arteta, Fan Reactions
Tom Jenkins