Sitting next to Saka, 18yo Nichols attends first team meeting as Arteta introduces Arsenal's brand new signing

On Tuesday afternoon, Arsenal, through the club's official website, confirmed the signing of  Mikel Merino from La Liga side Real Sociedad on a long-term contract.

The Gunners have been chasing the signature of the Spain international over the last few weeks and the deal is now done and dusted ahead of the Premier League meeting with Brighton & Hove on Saturday, August 31.

The 2024 European Championship-winning midfielder was involved in every single game played by Spain in Germany, and the highlight of his performance was coming off the bench to score the game-winning goal in a quarterfinal clash against the hosts.

Shortly after the signing was completed, Mikel Merino was introduced to Arsenal's first team players by manager Mikel Arteta, with two academy players of Nigerian descent in attendance, namely 18-year-old right-back Josh Nichols and history-making attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri. 

Nichols was spotted sitting next to former Nigeria Football Federation target Bukayo Saka during the briefing and being embedded with the first team players indicates that a debut is on the horizon for the versatile defender in the new season.

The quad-national player, who is also eligible for England, Jamaica and Guyana, traveled with the first team to the United States for pre-season preparations, playing in friendly matches with Bournemouth, Manchester United and Liverpool. 

After the first team returned to England, Nichols participated in the friendly against Bayer Leverkusen and was also called up for the Emirates Cup match against Lyon but was a non-playing substitute. 

Nichols was among the three academy players of Nigerian descent that trained with Arsenal first team on Monday, the others being Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and Nwaneri. 

Born in London to a Nigerian mother and Jamaican father, Nichols signed his first professional contract with Arsenal last month. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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