Absolutely amazing player: Arsene Wenger once raved about latest Leeds transfer target, Fran Merida

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Leeds United are reportedly keen on ex-Arsenal midfielder Fran Merida.

According to the Daily Mail, Leeds United are interested in snapping up Osasuna playmaker Fran Merida, possibly handing him a route back to English football.

The Whites raided Spanish football this past summer in order to sign playmaker Samu Saiz from Huesca, and they appear to be keen on re-uniting him with his former Huesca team-mate Merida too.

Merida, 27, has played 25 games for Osasuna since leaving Huesca in 2016, and whilst he has registered no goals and just the one assist, he is attracting interest from Leeds.

The Spaniard may be a familiar name to many having left Barcelona as a teenager to join Arsenal way back in 2005, and was immediately tipped for stardom alongside fellow La Masia product Cesc Fabregas.

In fact, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was so happy that Merida signed a long-term deal with the Gunners in 2008, that he was quoted by Sky Sports as saying that the midfielder was ‘an absolutely amazing player’.

“Fran is very technical,” said Wenger. “He still needs to grow physically but football-wise there is no problem. He is an absolutely amazing player,” he added.

Merida didn’t live up to the hype though, and some may be wondering just what went wrong for the Spaniard, and where he has been in recent years since leaving Arsenal for Atletico Madrid in 2010.

Whilst he played 27 times in his first season for Atletico, he end up out on loan at Portuguese side Braga, and struggled to settle with Hercules and Brazilian outfit Atletico Paranaense as his confidence was shot to pieces.

A January 2015 move to Huesca helped rekindle Merida’s career, hitting nine goals and four assists during the 2015-16 campaign to earn a move to Osasuna, where he appears to have caught Leeds’ attention.

Merida’s ability on the ball hasn’t been in doubt, and with renewed confidence, he could finally prove to be a success in England, over seven years since his move to Arsenal – and Wenger’s comments about him – fell flat.