£25m player thinks he’s still having an impact at Arsenal despite not playing

Arsenal’s midfield is so stacked this season that some very good players are spending a lot of time on the bench. Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly have been Mikel Arteta’s preferred pairing, but Bruno Guimaraes may well force his way into the team after his performances against Leeds and Lille.

There’s also Martin Zubimendi who is still waiting for his chance in the league, although he is currently out with a knock .

Then you have one of the most important squad players in Mikel Merino, who is now essentially Arsenal’s fifth-choice central midfielder, the third-choice striker behind Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres, and an option behind Martin Odegaard in the number 10 role.