The Newcastle United midfielder is a class act and recently signed a permanent deal, but his arrival should be a catalyst for more.
It did not take Newcastle United fans long to realise just how good summer signing Mikel Merino is, and the club duly followed, making his loan move permanent earlier this month and ensuring he is now tied to the club until the summer of 2022.
But if Newcastle want to keep the midfielder satisfied for the long term, they need to follow up his signing with more impressive moves in the transfer windows ahead.
Merino is a class act and Newcastle have struck lucky signing him for a knockdown price from a Borussia Dortmund side that normally snaps up the best young talent in Europe, rather than casting them aside after one poor season.
But on this occasion Merino has moved to a club where he looks like becoming a club legend if he remains for the long haul, and Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez will know the best way to do that is to surround him with players of equal quality.
The Magpies boss may have been frustrated for much of the transfer window but he got it right on more than one occasion, with Florian Lejeune another impressive addition despite his mistake in the recent draw with Southampton.
For now Merino will be hoping to make up for lost time and impress for the next few seasons at Newcastle but, if he continues on his current trajectory, bigger clubs from across the continent will be sniffing around and Benitez may be hard pressed to keep him.
That is unless Newcastle have formed a formidable side of their own by then, potentially meaning Merino can achieve all he wants by remaining exactly where he is.
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