Arsenal suffer HUGE blow as new £33m midfielder Mikel Merino is ruled out for ‘a few weeks’ after Gabriel landed on him during his first training session, causing ‘a small fracture’

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that new signing Mikel Merino will be out of action for ‘a few weeks’ after suffering a shoulder injury during his first training session with the club.

Merino, a £33million arrival from Real Sociedad in Spain, had been hoping to make his Gunners debut against Brighton on Saturday.

However, he will now have to wait until late September or early October following an accidental training ground clash with Arsenal defender Gabriel. 

‘Yes, very unfortunate,’ Arteta told reporters on Friday. ‘Yesterday he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury. 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 Gabi landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably.’

More to follow. 

Merino pictured (left) being shown around Arsenal’s training ground by sporting director Edu

Arsenal’s new signing has since has his debut delayed after injuring his shoulder in training

Gunners defender Gabriel (left) apparently fell on top of Merino (not in shot) on Thursday

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said of Merino: ‘It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks’