Merino can see a lot of Pep Guardiola in the Gunners boss.
He told Marca: "I'm learning a lot from him, on things I've never worked on in my career, and I'm understanding a different way of looking at football and being able to grow. Mikel has taken the best from Pep Guardiola during the years he spent with him and his main objective is to have a dominant team, not letting the opponent have possession, subduing them and limiting their attacks."
Arteta was assistant manager at Manchester City to Guardiola before moving to Arsenal.
Asked about doubts around Arteta's ability to lead Arsenal to a league title, Merino also stated: "It's the first time I've been in an environment where we always try to win as many titles as possible and that reflects the ambitious mentality of the club.
"Arsenal's way of playing is designed to win, not to finish second, even though we finished second in the Premier League for two seasons in a row. But we're not satisfied. We want to win big titles here and that's what we're working on. It's our fuel to keep trying. Winning is difficult, but we're close and hopefully that will happen this year."
Merino was also asked about being played as a centre-forward by Arteta in the absence of injured attacking teammates.
He insisted: "As a striker, the movements are different, but I don't think I do anything so different from usual because the common pattern is the same. Then yes, it was also surprising for me to be able to make such a big contribution as a striker."