Arsenal’s on loan Spanish midfielder Fran Merida Perez, is keeping positive on his loan to Real Sociedad, despite not being able to make the break through, since José Ramón Eizmendi was installed as manager shortly after Merida’s arrival on a six month loan contract.
Speaking with the clubs official website RealSociedad.com the 18 year old said:
“I am very proud to be living with this unique experience at 18 years of age and I do not regret having come, because I am very happy here, both with the club and with colleagues who have lots of quality.
“What one wants is to play, but now the team is playing very well and I must wait for my opportunity.”
However, Fran himself may be happy, but as we reported last month, Manager Arsene Wenger is said to be furious with the Basque club, and is expected to arrange a meeting with Chairman Iñaki Badiola in a bid to have a clause fitted which would mean Fran must play at least 45 minutes of future fixtures, unless the club can prove he is unable to, via injury or otherwise.
Young Guns, will be reporting weekly on Merida’s progress, along with the other six loanees, you can catch up on any reports missed, or view scouting reports on them in our Loanees section.
Article By – J.Sanderson
If and when Fran Merida comes back to us i personally cannot see were he is going to play in the Arsenal team
More fuel to the fire really.
Merida really isn’t all that special.
He’ll come back next season, and be sold at Christmas. The kid is nothing but hype.
a little harsh i feel, were chopping him down , before he has even played.
Perhaps harsh, yes, but I’ve seen the kid play maybe 5-10 times, and he’s never even looked like the most exciting young midfielder coming through at Arsenal, let alone the saviour that some seem to be talking about coming into the first team setup next season.
People got massively over-excited over some ridiculous youtube clip a couple of years ago, that was probably put together by his agent.
I don’t believe he’s anywhere near the standard required to make it at the club.
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J, if you want a link, just drop me an e-mail! I’ll be happy to sort you out a link!
Keep up the good work, I’m enjoying your site!
if you just sit a bench and watch the game, you had better come back quickly
Hey, everybody, the bottom line is that it’s a little silly to make “lifetime” pronouncements about kids who are 17 or 18 years old.
Some players show massive improvement between 17 and 21, some don’t. It comes down to a combination of factors.
The key thing, though, is that Wenger has proven over and over that he can get young players with great quality and POTENTIAL into the Arsenal system. After that, some will make it and some won’t — but the odds are stacked in your favour if you have a boatload of exciting young players to develop.
It’s WAY too early to draw conclusions on Merida or anyone that short of experience.
But remember all the supposed “flops” the knee-jerk supporters wrote off as useless, and where are they now? We heard a lot of stick about Flamini, about Adebayor, and most of all about Song — who was perhaps the most dominant player at the African Cup of Nations. Song put Michael Essien — yes, that 30 million quid Essien — in his pocket at the ACN.
But remember what ONE poor half-game at Charlton produced from so-called fans about Song?
Arsene Wenger plays this development game better than anyone in the world — so I think I’ll trust HIS judgment.
You seem to be forgetting Steve, that Arsenal have a full youth set up, and no matter how good it may be, the vast, vast majority of those players never make it at Arsenal, let alone a top club.
Part of ‘trusting’ Arsene would be recognising that he’s mostly brave enough to cull all those youngsters that come through that just are never good enough to cut it on the top flight.
And of all the youngsters we have in the youth academy, ~Merida’s probably attracted the most hype. Why? Because of some stupid youtube video.
Believe it or not, you can look at young footballers, and identify talent. Some are able to see it better than others, but even armchair pundits are often able to spot fantastic talent when they see it. And sure, Merida may become the next big thing. It’s just that, if he does, he isn’t really giving any indication of it now
I’ve seen Merida on a few occasions and I disagree with Jimbo. The kids got vision, something which Wenger rates highly. The only worry I’d have is regards his stature. He needs to bulk up to play in the prem.
J.S, I’d like to once again congratulate you on this website. Your streets ahead of anyone with youth news. Keep up the good work.
Can you confirm the story on tribal about Arsenal sending a tutor to work with Pedro? I don’t trust that site.
yeah thats true he does need toughing he should go on loan in the championship or league 1 that make him know what english football is all about.
Vision? He’s inconsistent with his passing, overall.
That’s something that might improve over time, but compare him to someone like Cesc, and you’ll see the enormous gulf between the two.
I’d be willing to bet anything with anyone that Merida will not make more than 20 appearances in all competitions for the senior Arsenal team (and I’m only saying 20 because he might get a few in the CC next year).
thats true i see randall making more appearances then him because randall is good at passing and got good vision
Merida was originally a central midifleder, but both Randall and Lansbury are better in that position at Arsenal.
On the flanks, the only really bright spark I think we have at the club is Vela – I’m not too excited by the likes of Kieran Gibbs. Merida is ok, and will probably end up like someone like Seb Larsson, a good player for a smaller club.
i dont understand why people think so highly of gibbs he’s just ok nothing great i think jay simpson better then him but we need players on the wings its a must