Nacho Monreal departed Arsenal in the summer to return to his native Spain. With the arrival of Kieran Tierney from Celtic and the competition provided by Sead Kolasinac, the left-back’s playing time at the Emirates Stadium was likely to be limited. The Spaniard signed for Arsenal back in 2013 and was an excellent servant to the club, regarded by many as the Gunners’ most consistent defender over the last six years.
His performances in San Sebastian have earned rave reviews with the Basque club currently just two points off of the top spot in La Liga. The decision to allow him to leave this summer in a cut-price deal raised eyebrows amongst the Arsenal faithful and these supporters still believe the club made the wrong decision.
How Kola won the heart of the manager but Monreal didn’t, is still a mystery to me
— Mike Slim (@ayiboi) November 13, 2019
Letting nacho go is the worst thing arsenal have done since letting van Persie go. Facts. Criminally underrated. CRIMINALLY
— Joe Strutter Holland (@TheMikeStrutter) November 13, 2019
Monreal > Kolasinac.
— YoPierre14 (@Mhumm101) November 13, 2019
Monreal was so essential to the team, over the years, that it was a complete mystery why we sold him in the Summer. Tierney was injured, so why not sell him in January, or just persuade him to stay.
— Ian Arnold (@Monsieurfromage) November 14, 2019
Very pleased for him, an excellent pro. Another victim of the endless squad rotation system at Arsenal – all any self-respecting pro wants to do is play football and prove themselves every game for 90 mins, every week. Don’t tell anyone, but you can build a team that way…
— Benjamin Crayston (@bcrayston1) November 13, 2019
Happy for him. Hes been great for Arsenal, got a ticket home and still rockin’ it 🙂
Hope this goes on well so we can invest in a player from Sociedad— Bnd it like Bendtner (@mrgustavezero) November 13, 2019
Oh I miss him. I also named my cats Nacho and Hector so well pissed off he left
— RuthD (@ruthd37) November 14, 2019
What do we think?
Based on his performances of late, it’s clear the left-back still has plenty to offer. Unai Emery clearly felt that was a position within the team that needed strengthening and so made his move for Celtic’s Tierney. Kolasinac’s contract still has until the summer of 2022 to run and so financially it may not have been possible to move him on instead.
Defensively, Monreal is, perhaps, far superior but Kolasinac offers more drive and attacking prowess which has proven to be key to Emery’s preferred playing style.