Merino, the ‘Robocop’ of the Royal Society

Mikel Merino is like Robocop, the robot protagonist of the famous 1987 film directed by Paul Verhoeven. PIt seems indestructible, and at the same time it is made of so many pieces that it looks like a collage. In the case of the Navarrese midfielder, they are patches, war wounds, from all the battles he disputes and from which for now he comes out the winner. Under normal conditions, he would have consequences in the form of a drop for the next match. Any other player in his circumstances would probably stop and add to his team’s infirmary roster.

But Merin doesn’t. Merino plays even lame, without a leg or an arm if necessary. He is the perfect example of sacrifice and commitment to his teammates and his club. “Which player today plays 100% well, without having any physical discomfort?”, Imanol Alguacil, his coach, usually asks rhetorically in his usual weekly appearances, always knowing what the answer is, which is in his own question. But Merino goes further. Play directly injured. Without a single complaint. Real’s ‘Robocop’ never tires of playing.

Despite the many physical problems that this season drags, The Navarrese ranks third in number of minutes in the Real Sociedad squad. He has only missed four league games, exceeding 2,000 minutes, something that only two other teammates have done so far. And that Mikel Merino has his entire body marked, and must play on many occasions even infiltrated to be able to withstand the pain. His problems began before the grand final of the Copa del Rey last year, a game in which he played injured and in which he had to receive a massage on the stretcher at half-time because his back was literally blocked. “He was stiff,” recalls the Navarrese.

A vertebra, two broken fingers, gaps…

It was later revealed that he had a broken L5 vertebra, an injury he had already suffered while playing for Newcastle in the Premier League.. It took him three months to recover, narrowly missing out on the European Championships with Spain, but making it to the Tokyo Olympics on time, where he won the silver medal. Since then, Merino has had to do prevention work before each effort he is going to make, training and match. His back problems are chronic and can reappear at any time, but he has learned to control them with that conscientious work that he does not forgive any day. That is learning to control and understand each other’s body.

But to all this we must add the problems that have been appearing this season. Problems that are the result of the fact that he never gives up a ball, that he does not spare any dispute and that he goes with everything in all of them, because he is a born winner of each duel. But that has led him to have to play with two gaps in the heada, due to the blows he suffered with Hugo Guillamon (who accidentally broke his nose) and with Sancet (who arrived at the hospital with a head injury).

To this we must add that since the match against Osasuna he has played with the damaged toe phalanx, something that causes enormous pain to the point of not being able to put on the boot during the week, which is why he is between cottons without training with the group. But then in order to play the games he must receive a painkiller in the area to be able to withstand the pain. And we must not forget either that for weeks now he has been playing with a bandage on his right hand because he has a broken finger. And despite all this, he is used to being one of Real’s standout players in every match. It is Mikel Merino, the indestructible player, the txuri-urdin ‘Robocop’.