Mikel Merino has joined Newcastle United on loan from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and is already proving his worth at St James’ Park.
Newcastle United’s 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield Town on the second weekend of the new Premier League season did not exactly paint Mikel Merino in the best light.
Although displaying a few flashes of quality with that cultured left peg, the Spanish Under-21 international committed the criminal act of failing to track Aaron Mooy as the Terriers’ midfielder floated past him to score the winner.
However, Newcastle supporters had to wait just six more days to find out what they had been waiting for. Merino, landed on a season-long loan after failing to break into Borussia Dortmund’s first-team, was the Man of the Match in a 3-0 battering of West Ham at St James’ Park.
And, while staying coy over the prospect of an extended stay on Tyneside, Merino has made it clear that he sees his year at Newcastle as a learning curve.
“We’ll see how the season progresses and how it all goes. At the moment, what I am thinking is to improve and grow individually as a footballer, because I still have a lot of room to grow. That’s what I’m up to now,” Merino, who has been compared to Spain great Xabi Alonso by manager Rafael Benitez, told The Chronicle.
Merino also admitted that the prospect of working with a respected Spanish manager such as Benitez played a major part in influencing his decision to move to the North East of England.
Benitez helped turn 2010 World Cup winner Alonso into a genuinely world class central midfielder after bringing him to Liverpool from Real Sociedad and Newcastle fans will be hoping that Merino will follow a similar development – provided he stays beyond this season, that is.
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