~Snip~
Arsenal are very serious about their team this season. They don't want to be the guard first ranked and fail at the end of the season. This proves that Arteta is very active in adding new players. Meanwhile, Merino should just have to wait for time. I read Merino had a medical test, I think it was only a matter of time. Merino has also played at Newcastle United. The statistics in Sociedad are also quite good. He played 32 times with 5 goals. He can be a creative midfielder to overcome Arsenal's stalemate.
The failure in the last two seasons has given Arteta the most valuable lesson, Arsenal was able to reach the top of the standings and even became the team that dominated the standings the longest but failed to win a trophy. This season, Arteta will try to make up for that failure, he has started to actively improve the team's performance with several new players brought in.
Now Arsenal quality is almost at Manchester City level, Arteta only needs to maintain the stamina and performance of the players to always appear consistent. I prefer Arteta to focus on EPL rather than UCL, because the competition level is different. It is very difficult for Arsenal to win UCL even though they have the chance to win it, but Arteta should start from EPL to improve the mentality of his players.