Arsenal star could miss rest of the season as injury expert explains World Cup dilemma

Merino has been an important player in midfield and up front for club and country (Picture: Getty)

Mikel Merino faces a race to return from injury before the end of the season when Arsenal will hope to still be battling for major silverware.

The Gunners are chasing an unprecedented quadruple this season, top of the Premier League , finishing top of the Champions League phase and already in the Carabao Cup final where they will meet Manchester City in March. They hope to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup when they take on Wigan Athletic on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta has assembled one of the strongest squads in Europe to end their long wait for major silverware but were handed a major blow in January when Merino suffered a stress fracture in his foot during the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United.

The former Real Sociedad star underwent surgery this week with Arsenal expecting him to be out for an ‘extended’ period of time.

Arsenal will hope to have a very busy month of May with the FA Cup final taking place on the 17 th . The final weekend of the Premier League season takes place a week later with the Champions League final taking place in Budapest on 30 May.

Merino has repeatedly demonstrated how important he is to Arteta’s plans with his injury prompting a late and ultimately unsuccessful search for a replacement late in the January transfer window.

Both Arteta and Merino’s father have described the injury as ‘rare’ . While the exact nature of the injury has not been disclosed, Stephen Smith, CEO of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics, suggests Arsenal will err on the side of caution when it comes to his return.

Arsenal face being without him for the rest of the campaign (Picture: Getty Images)

While an estimated timeline could see Merino available again for the season run-in, Arsenal will be wary of undoing the hard work done behind the scenes.

‘The foot has multiple different bones and there are some that are much easier to deal with,’ Smith told Metro . ‘There are some metatarsal stress fractures that are much easier to deal with because they have a higher blood supply than others. The fifth metatarsal or the navicular are two bones that are rare to break but when they do, because they have a poor blood supply in that area, they can take much longer.

‘On the lower end, stress fractures can be dealt with in four to eight weeks. But if you have a scenario where it is in one of these tricker areas with poor blood supply you are talking anywhere from eight to 12 or even up to 16 weeks.

‘If surgical fixation is required, you are generally talking about the higher side of two to three months and it often can be longer. It depends on the specifics of the issue. but if there is surgery, it will add to the timeline.

‘Even in those more serious scenarios, a return to play would generally be one erring on the side of caution. As soon as you go back to training you are loading again and you can go back to square one if there is a breakdown.

‘I would think at this point in the season, unless someone’s rehab goes incredibly well or there are really important games you absolutely need a player back for, they are probably going to be more conservative and ensure there is no recurrence.’

Merino has made 33 appearances for Arsenal this season, stepping into midfield while again proving to be an effective option up front when called upon with six goals this term. He has developed into a similarly key presence in the Spanish national team, scoring eight times in 10 appearances for La Roja in 2025.

Merino has a hugely influential presence in the Spanish team (Picture: Getty)

Having developed into such a key player for his country, the Arsenal star would have been expected to head to the World Cup this summer with Spain opening their campaign against Cape Verde on 15 June. This injury blow could leave that in doubt. But while Arsenal will be understandably cautious, Merino will have the final say.