“Oyarzabal may be back sooner than many of you think”

Mikel Merino holding his companion and namesake Mikel Oyarzabal He is “on the starting ramp” of his return to the field of play: “He can return sooner than many of you think,” Navarrese said in an interview with Radio Marca Donostia, despite the fact that the ’10 ‘ hasn’t practiced with the group yet “Michael He suffered a very complicated injury and needs time”, he warned, to justify that nine months have passed since his injury: “What you want is for him to be well, to see his Michael he wants to see”, he will contribute. Although in some images, the man from Eibar appears sad and as if fighting the world, Merino He says that “he is lively from the inside out” and argues that “he is seen with the joy of one who is about to return.”

Other footballers like it Carlos Fernandez Y Ander Barrenetxea They have not yet come out of the tunnel of physical problems that they have been going through for a long time: “They are trying to give them love and encouragement. I think how difficult it is for them,” said the ‘8’ of Real , celebrating ” lucky” that he is experiencing this year that he has not been the victim of the “number of blows” he has received in the past, which has weighed him down a bit.

His absence from the team

Merino, on the other hand, does not believe that his absence from the Spanish team was due to pushing too much at Real: “If I didn’t go, it was because in the times I was there I didn’t give the level that he wants from me,” he said, referring to Luis Enrique. “I think the other way around; because of how well I’ve done at Real I went to the national team”, although it’s been a year since ‘the red one’ has dressed. Of course, the fact of not being called up will not change his usual behavior: “I owe myself to the club where I belong and I can’t imagine stopping doing something to go to the national team,” he said, convinced.

Merino He admitted that he did not lose until the end, until the moment of giving the final list “hope” and the “desire” to go to the World Cup in Qatar. He thought that maybe the coach could decide for him by looking at his “last performance” or was convinced that he “saw a different profile in me.” But that didn’t happen. “I don’t have to blame anyone and I haven’t given it much thought, but I did have an eye on it.”

Now a new horizon opens to Louis of OriginIn his opinion, “a good coach who manages groups very well, sympathizes with us and makes good decisions in moments of pressure”. In addition, the man from La Rioja had Merino in the lower categories and brought him to the Olympic Games despite passing the age limit.

Merino He believes that Real has the level to fight for the Champions League, although it gives him a certain amount of respect to say this because this is the field “where the points are distributed” and you have to prove it there.

Navarrese is playing in his fifth season at Real and although he admits that “my fundamentals and my values ​​remain the same”, he considers himself a different person and player, “much more mature”: “The culture of Zubieta and Gipuzkoa came to you and it changed you. I’m very happy.”