Newcastle have announced they have made their fifth signing of the summer following the arrival of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mikel Merino.
Rafa Benitez has already added Christian Atsu, Jacob Murphy, Javier Manquillo and Florian Lejeune to his squad this summer but the arrival of Merino is arguably the most exciting.
The 21-year-old, who featured for Spain at the Euro U21 Championships in Poland this summer, only joined Dortmund from Osasuna 12 months ago but failed to establish himself as a first-team regular under former boss Thomas Tuchel.
Newcastle have profited from a lack of game time to sign the versatile midfielder on an initial season-long loan deal with a view to making the transfer permanent next summer.
“It feels good and I’m very happy to be here, to be part of this club,” he told the club’s official website. “I’m looking forward to touching the ball, meeting my new team-mates and starting to play football.
“I know it’s a great club and a really nice city. I had different options but I think this is the right place for me to play.”
Mikel Merino: No player averaged more passes per game in the Bundesliga last season (excluding sub appearances) than Merino (128.5) pic.twitter.com/caH8mMQjkb
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 28, 2017
Merino only managed eight appearances in the Bundesliga last season and was often deployed at centre-back in that time. However, if you discount substitute appearances, Merino averaged more passes per game than any other Bundesliga player (128.5).
