Some comments on Merino. Seems he'd slot well into our midfield.
"Merino is the type of midfielder Arteta would create in a lab if given the chance. He is press-resistant, creative, combative and, above all, a duel-winning machine; Merino won more aerial duels (168) than any other midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues last season. Like Rice, who Arsenal paid around £105m for last summer, Merino is an impressively complete midfielder. He can step forward as a No 8 and lead the press, as the Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard often does, but he can also defend deep as a No 6 when required, whether that be alongside another player or on his own. Merino even has experience of playing alongside Odegaard: they were in the Real Sociedad team that won the Copa del Rey in 2020. Merino was the man of the match in the final."
https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/article/2024/jul/30/spain-midfielder-mikel-merino-ideal-arsenal-mikel-arteta