The Spain<\/a> international suffered a stress fracture on his foot during Arsenal’s 3-2 league loss against Manchester United<\/a> on Jan. 25.<\/p>\n Arsenal expect Merino to be out for an extended period.<\/p>\n Merino, 29, posted a photo on Instagram from his hospital bed giving a thumbs up and wrote: “Surgery done! Already closer to be back. Thank you so much to everyone for your messages and love. It really gives me even more energy to face the challenge. Vamos!”<\/p>\n Sources in Spain have told ESPN that Merino is optimistic he will be able to return to action in May and be available to make Spain<\/a>‘s squad for the World Cup<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta recently said it was difficult to predict when Merino will return to play.<\/p>\n – Who are the top scorers in Premier League history? “It is a very rare injury so we have to wait and see once we have the surgery, how it reacts daily, obviously monitor it throughout the weeks post surgery and see,” the Spaniard said.<\/p>\nMikel Merino has undergone surgery on a foot injury.\u00a0David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images<\/p>\n
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