When Spain look back on their 2026 World Cup campaign, particularly if they go on to win the tournament, the defining catalyst behind their success might actually end up being traced back to an enforced tactical decision by Mikel Arteta back in February 2025.
Arteta was facing a severe injury crisis at centre-forward, with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus unavailable for selection due to long-term injuries. This forced the Spaniard to throw central midfielder Mikel Merino into an unfamiliar role as a makeshift striker against Leicester City.
Merino, who had never played in that position since he was a seven-year-old, responded by scoring twice in a 2-0 victory, unlocking a dormant, tactical cheat code that has altered the trajectory of both his club and international career.
Fast forward to the World Cup in North America, and Spain is reaping the absolute rewards of that Premier League experiment.
For the second consecutive knockout round, Merino stepped off the bench to shatter a late deadlock, this time hunting down an 88th-minute winner against Belgium to secure a 2-1 quarterfinal triumph.
In doing so, he became the first substitute in FIFA World Cup history to score the match-winning goal in two separate knockout matches.
Why Mikel Merino Is So Valuable to Arsenal and Spain
What makes Merino completely indispensable to both Arteta and Spain boss Luis de la Fuente is mostly his positional fluidity that borders on the absurd.
"I think he is a complete player," De la Fuente remarked after the game as quoted on The Athletic. "He’s played as a pivot, a six, an eight, a 10 and a false nine. He can play in any of these positions. His performance in any of these positions is at the top level."
For Arsenal, this versatility has evolved from an emergency backup plan into a vital blueprint.
Merino splits his domestic minutes between pulling the strings in central midfield and acting as a lethal, out-and-out striker, spending 39 percent of his club minutes leading the line.
For all of the criticism Arteta’s side faced for being boring last season, some of their most entertaining games, such as a 4-1 win over Tottenham and a 3-1 hammering of Bayern Munich last November, were witnessed with him starting uptop.
How Merino Gives Spain a Different Dimension
For a long time, Spain’s football has been centered around diminutive, hyper-technical midfielders who can pass opposition blocks into submission.
What they traditionally lack, however, is raw, physical gravity in the penalty area. Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain’s top scorer at the tournament, is a highly effective operator, but he thrives on subtle space manipulation and deep link-up play rather than physical warfare.
Enter Merino. Having earned a reputation as a ferocious "duel monster" during his tenure at Real Sociedad, he possesses the imposing target-man physicality required to bully elite center-backs in the air.
The second De la Fuente brings him on, Spain’s entire attacking methodology shifts. Against Belgium, the instructions were direct: the focus immediately shifted towards using Merino as the focal point in the box.
Within moments of replacing Dani Olmo, Spain’s full-backs immediately abandoned lateral recycling to launch aggressive crosses into the box.
Merino’s Elite Space Interpretation
Being an effective aerial target is one thing, but Merino pairs his raw power with genuine, predatory striker instincts.
As Arteta noted during Merino's initial striker audition, the 30-year-old possesses an innate ability to "smell danger" and masterfully time his arrivals into the box. His stoppage-time winner against Portugal was a clinic in vertical mobility, breaking the defensive line to latch onto a Ferran Torres pass.
Against a stubborn Belgian low-block, Spain's possession had grown predictable and stagnant. While Fabian Ruiz offered occasional runs from deep, La Roja desperately needed someone to occupy the space between the center-backs.
Merino did exactly that, exhibiting pure striker anticipation when Pau Cubarsi lined up a long-range shot. While everyone else watched the flight of the ball, Merino instinctively attacked the rebound, anticipating a goalkeeper error and positioning himself perfectly to bundle home the loose rebound.
Perhaps the most telling metric of Merino's value is his psychological composure. He tends to score goals that alter outcomes of games.
Out of his 11 Premier League goals for Arsenal, an astonishing 10 have been game-state-altering strikes, meaning they directly converted a drawing position into a win, or a losing position into a draw.
Why Every Trophy-Challenging Team Needs a Player Like Merino
While it might be difficult to truly grasp and understand what Merino offers to sides on first glance given he is not the most aesthetic of players out there, a closer look at him might enable you to finally see what he offers to sides.
He really is a love at fourth sight, and you need players like Merino to win big things.
