Blow for Arsenal as Euro-winning signing suffers shoulder injury - third Premier League summer arrival to be injured

Mikel Merino joined the Gunners this week for an initial £27m after featuring in every match as his native Spain made their way to European Championship glory. He played a key role, scoring the last-gasp winner that sent them past hosts Germany and into the semi-finals.

Fans were excited about seeing the ex-Real Sociedad man make his debut at the Emirates this weekend against Brighton, but Mikel Arteta was forced to deliver bad news at his pre-match press conference today.

The manager confirmed Merino is not in contention: "Very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks. He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and Gabi [Gabriel Magalhaes] landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably."

The timing is far from ideal for Arsenal, who must travel to local rivals Tottenham and title rivals Manchester City in September. However, Merino is not alone: he’s the third high-profile Premier League signing this summer to be injured by the end of their debut.

Tottenham Hotspur paid Bournemouth £55m for their star striker Dominic Solanke, who scored 19 times in 38 appearances for the Cherries last season, and he stepped out as a Spurs player for their opener against Leicester City. However, he picked up an ankle injury in that game which sidelined him for their next fixture against Everton - and Ange Postecoglou has confirmed today that he won’t feature in this weekend’s clash with Newcastle United.

Matt O’Riley suffered a nightmare start to life in England as he was ruled out of Premier League action before his top-flight debut. Having made the switch from Celtic to Brighton for £25m earlier this week, he made his first appearance for the club against Crawley in the EFL Cup. It only lasted ten minutes, with a crunching challenge from opposition captain Jay Williams cutting his match short.

Boss Fabian Hürzeler confirmed the 23-year-old needs surgery on his ankle after the challenge; Crawley manager Scott Lindsey apologised after the game, admitting: “Maybe we were a bit aggressive, maybe the referee missed it (the challenge) and I would like to apologise.”