Merino puts Barca aside: "I'm focused on the EURO"

Mikel Merino, Real Sociedad's international midfielder, admitted that nothing will take his mind off Euro 2024, concentrating on the tournament and Spain's opener against Croatia, without giving importance to the rumours that place him in Barcelona's orbit and admitting that this causes his team-mates to tease him.
"In a tournament like the European Championship, I leave this information to my agent, I don't like to hear this kind of thing unless it's the last resort," he admitted at a press conference after training with the national team in Donaueschingen.
"My agent respects me a lot and, in a tournament with the national team, until there is something definitive I won't have any news. I see it on social media and my teammates tease me about it, but it stays there," he added.
Merino has a contract with Real Sociedad until June 2025 and a market value of 50 million, he does not want anything to distract him from his goal of winning the European Championship with the Spanish national team.
"From the first moment I set foot in a professional team, I said that any rumour I take it as something positive to the club where I am, it speaks very well that there is interest because I am doing things well at Real Sociedad, there are players in the showcase and it is good for the club for the volume of growth," he said.
"But the importance we give inside is 0 to that kind of news. We are focused on representing the national team in the best possible way in a unique opportunity to win a European Championship. Losing focus on the main objective is not good," he said.