Arsenal have spent over £1 billion on players under Mikel Arteta but a £31.6m star has been hailed as the ‘most underrated signing of recent years’ in the Premier League.

Another productive summer transfer window in which the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Martin Zubimendi arrived at the Emirates Stadium took Arsenal’s spending under Arteta above £1bn.

The new additions have helped Arsenal enjoy a sensational start to the new season, with Arteta’s side top of the Premier League and joint-top of the Champions League.

Ex-Premier League midfielder Paul Dickov has been impressed by Arsenal’s transfer business and picked out the signing of Mikel Merino as a particularly shrewd piece of business

A midfielder by trade, Merino did a fine job filling in up front following Arsenal’s injury crisis last season, scoring nine goals, and has contributed three more so far this term.

Merino also boasts a surprisingly good record for Spain, scoring ten goals for his country – including eight since the start of 2025.

‘I think Mikel Merino has been the most underrated signing of recent years,’ Dickov told BestBettingBonuses.

‘I think if you’ve got to look at how he came in as a midfielder, how he transformed himself into a centre-forward last year when Arsenal had the injuries that they did.

‘I like him, he’s a really good player and I do think he is underrated. He’s a player that chips in with goals when needed. He doesn’t mind putting his foot in.

‘When he plays up top, he puts himself about and causes problems and I think he’s been a really good signing.

‘Sometimes players like that go under the radar a little bit when you’re making big signings, especially this season at Arsenal with Gyokeres and Eze, they’re easier on the eye and more flattering because of the price tag, and where they’ve come from.

‘But I’m pretty sure that his teammates and especially Mikel Arteta and his staff know how important he is, and probably realise the value that Mikel’s got in him.’

Another recent Arsenal signing, Gyokeres, had had a mixed start to his Premier League career following a £64m move from Sporting.

Gyokeres scored three goals in three games before the international break but had gone nine matches without getting on the scoresheet before that.

‘If he stays fit, he can bang them in,’ Dickov said of Gyokeres, who Manchester United also wanted to sign last summer.

‘They always say the golden number for a forward at any level, whether that’s the Premier League, the Championship, anywhere, is 20 goals. That’s the target.

‘If he can stay fit, with the talent he’s got alongside him, with Eze, Saka, Trossard and Martinelli, with Declan Rice in midfield, I don’t see any reason why he can’t score 20 a season.’

While Arsenal have a four-point cushion at the top of the Premier League, a testing run until December will test an Arteta side bidding to win the league title for the first time since 2004.

The Gunners return to Premier League action with a north London derby against Tottenham before facing Bayern Munich in the Champions League and London rivals Chelsea.

Asked if Arsenal’s next three games are their biggest of the season so far, Dickov said: ‘Yeah, I would say so.

‘Last week people were talking about Liverpool, with the Aston Villa game, with the Real Madrid game and the Manchester City game, that it could be a defining week for them.

‘City were playing a Bournemouth team that were second in the league at the time, and then Borussia Dortmund who were playing really well and then Liverpool.

‘So there’s big weeks coming up. But that’s a big, big week for Arsenal in the north London derby, and then against Vincent Kopmany’s Bayern Munich, who blew PSG away the other week.

‘Then it’s Chelsea’s away, which is tough as Chelsea are hitting a bit of form again.

‘So it’s going to be a huge week for Arsenal, but yet again, it’s still only November.  People will already be talking about Arsenal blowing it again and I don’t buy into that.

‘I think they have too much quality and strength and depth this season for anything to be decided in November. Regardless of how many points they get out of the games next week.’