Newcastle United sign Merino from Borussia Dortmund

London July 28 (IANS) Newcastle United on Friday confirmed the signing of Spanish Under-21 international Mikel Merino on a season-long loan deal from Borussia Dortmund.

Born in Pamplona Merino made more than 60 appearances for hometown club Osasuna before moving to Dortmund at the end of the 2015-16 campaign reports xinhua news agency.

Merino told the Newcastle club website: "It feels good and I m very happy to be here to be part of this club. I m looking forward to touching the ball meeting my new team-mates and starting to play football."

Coach Rafa Benitez said: "Mikel is a midfielder with talent an Under-21 international for Spain. He s a good size has quality on the ball and he s very very focused and professional."

The Spanish coach said that Merino has to demonstrate his skills and hopefully he can enjoy playing at Newcastle for a long time.

"I know it s a great club and a really nice city. I had different options but I think this is the right place for me to play " Merino added.

The 21-year-old is the fifth player to join the Magpies this summer. Jacob Murphy and Javier Manquillo arrived last week.

--IANS
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