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Mikel Merino move to Newcastle from Dortmund agreed in principle – Marca

7 years ago
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An agreement in principle has reached for Mikel Merino to join Newcastle this summer, according to reports in Spain.

The Spanish Under 21 international moved to Borussia Dortmund shortly after his 20th birthday for around £3m.

The young midfielder had made his debut for Osasuna as an 18 year old back in 2014 and made 67 appearances for them in the Spanish second tier.

This included 36 league starts in 2015/16, which saw him score seven goals from midfield.

That form helped  clinch a move to German giants Borussia Dortmund but predictably he found first team football a bit harder to come by.

An unused substitute a few times in the Premier League last season, Mikel Merino only made two starts in the Bundesliga and six times came off the bench in league games.

Marca say that Borussia Dortmund have all but finalised a deal that will see him move to Newcastle this coming season.

However, the Spanish newspaper says that they still believe the now 21 year old midfielder has a big future ahead of him, so are only willing to let him move on loan for the season.

Borussia Dortmund once again qualified for Champions League football after finishing third in the Bundesliga and the German club see the priority for Mikel Merino as being to get experience and minutes on the pitch elsewhere at the moment.

If this transfer story does have substance then the Spanish angle for Rafa Benitez will be growing ever further, with the likes of Manquillo, Lejeune and Gamez having already being recruited from La Liga. Plus of course players such as Victor Fernandez below first team.

With Newcastle fans looking for some inspiration in the transfer market, loan deals have been suggested as being on the cards with the club struggling to buy the quality needed.

Borussia Dortmund have just confirmed via their Twitter account that Mikel Merino hasn’t travelled with the rest of the squad to Switzerland, as transfer discussions are taking place with another (unnamed) club.

On this skills/goals video footage below, he looks a very tricky left-footed midfielder (who can also play as a left sided full-back/wing-back or centre-back), loves his nutmegs and tricks as well as doing the more defensive work, but who also goes down pretty easy…

[youtube=https://youtu.be/jM3IoNaTauk&w=600]

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