Pictured above: Mikel Merino celebrates against Leicester City (Courtesy of Mikel Merino on Instagram)

Going into the game against Leicester on Saturday, Arsenal’s outlook was bleak. Kai Havertz’s hamstring injury had left them without a recognised centre-forward for the rest of the season and with Saka, Martinelli and Jesus already sidelined, any hope of reeling in Liverpool’s 7-point lead was quickly fading.

The injuries meant Sterling, Trossard and Nwaneri were the only remaining first-team forwards still available. Considering all three players are 5 foot 8 or under, it was to be expected that Arsenal would find themselves severely lacking in height and presence up front.

The first half of Saturday’s game played out much to this narrative. Sterling struggled to create anything going forward, Trossard was barely involved in the game and despite a few glimmers of quality from Ethan Nwaneri, Arsenal’s lack of a target man was clear to see.

With time slipping away in the second half and Arsenal still struggling to find a breakthrough, Arteta turned to Mikel Merino as a makeshift centre-forward in the hopes of salvaging three points.

The rest, as they say, is history. Within 20 minutes, Merino had scored twice and the Gunners were home and dry.

Merino shows his killer instinct

Both Merino’s goals were clinically taken in a manner befitting a top-quality striker. For the first goal, he planted a strong header past the outstretched Hermansen, after a sumptuous Nwaneri cross. For the second, he timed his run to perfection before slotting Trossard’s pinpoint delivery into the bottom corner.

This accomplished performance will help to ease some of the lingering doubts about Arsenal’s ability to cope without Havertz. Such was the relief and elation amongst Arsenal fans, that for a short period of time after the game, Merino’s Wikipedia page was updated to include the line: “He is considered to be one of the greatest strikers of all time”.

Merino is not the first Arsenal player to make the transition from a deeper lying role into attack. Kai Havertz started as a midfielder for Bayern Leverkusen before establishing himself as a centre forward under Mikel Arteta and Saka played his first games for Arsenal as a wing back. Saturday’s performance will give Arteta and the fans hope that Merino can emulate these players on a consistent basis for the rest of the season.

Will Arteta start Merino as a centre forward against West Ham?

Within moments of the game, social media was awash with Arsenal fans saying the same thing – Merino must start up front next weekend.

Merino was quick to quash this excitement in his post-match interview with TNT sports, suggesting he didn’t think he would play as centre forward again.

However, when later asked by the BBC if he would play up front from the start of the game against West Ham on Saturday, Merino clarified “I will be ready for whatever they ask me to do… if they want me to play striker, I will”.

After today’s cameo you certainly wouldn’t bet against Arteta asking Merino to play a similar role next weekend.

Whether this is a tactic which can work in the longer-term against more astute defences remains to be seen. The real test of this experiment will be in the coming weeks, but for now at least, Arteta will feel a lot more optimistic than he was, waking up on Saturday morning.