32. Fran Merida

A creative, highly technical central or left-sided midfielder, Fran has made a big impact following his arrival at Arsenal from Barcelona in the summer of 2006.

Like so many of the Club’s young players, Fran made his first-team debut in the Carling Cup – in his case, a 2-0 win over Newcastle early in the 2007/08 campaign. Once the young Gunners had been knocked out at the Semi-Final stage he took the next step in his development – a loan move.

Fran spent four months at Real Sociedad in 2008, helping them maintain a promotion push until the end of the campaign. And there was good news when the Spaniard returned to England with a new contract waiting for him.

Last summer Fran starred at the Uefa Under-19 Championships and was named in the tournament’s Top Ten stars for the future. And he continued to make good progress in the season that followed, making five first-team appearances.

Three of those came in the Carling Cup but Fran also took his chance in the Premier League, making his top-flight debut at West Brom and coming off the bench again at Portsmouth.

Fran is one of the Club’s most highly-rated young players and looked right at home in the first team when Arsenal lifted the Emirates Cup in pre-season. The Spaniard partnered compatriot Cesc Fabregas in the heart of midfield and set up a goal for Eduardo in a fine all-round display against Rangers.

Don’t be surprised to see him at Emirates Stadium a lot more this season.

 

MY YEAR

January

Fran made three appearances for Arsenal in January. He started against West Ham in the FA Cup and was a substitute in two Premier League games; at home to Everton and away at Bolton. The latter turned out to be a bittersweet afternoon for the midfielder, who scored Arsenal's second goal but also picked up an ankle injury. He was linked with a summer move back to Spain but dismissed the speculation in an interview with the Official Matchday Programme. "My agent and I are only talking to Arsenal at the moment," he said at the start of January.

December

Fran played twice for Arsenal in December, getting opportunities to impress in the Carling Cup against Manchester City and making his Champions League debut against Olympiacos in the Gunners' final Group Stage game of the campaign.

November

At the start of November Arsène Wenger revealed that Fran had verbally agreed a new deal at Arsenal. The manager described the potential deal as "massive" news for the Club. "I think it's massive for us that because I believe he's an outstanding player," said Wenger. At the end of the month Fran was sent off in the Reserves' 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa.

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