Hours after North-London club Arsenal lifted the FA Cup for the record 13th time on Saturday, reports have emerged that their star defender Nacho Monreal could be on his way back to Spain, with Athletic Bilbao eyeing a move for the 31-year-old.
Despite having a poor midseason last term whenArsenal lose out in the title race and getting humiliated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, the Spaniard made an immensely strong comeback in the closing few months that saw the Gunners come excruciatingly close to a top-four spot in the Premier League.
It was his goal that levelled the score against Manchester City in the FA Cup semis, which was immediately followed by a much-needed winner against a resilient Leicester City side. In all this time, Arsenal had to change their system to a three-man defence, which needed Monreal to shift to a wing-back as well as a centre-half role at times.
And he managed both the roles impeccably well in the absence of Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and even Kieran Gibbs. He has now won three FA Cups with the side since moving to London from Malaga CF in 2013. However, Arsenal have struggled to produce any kind of quality from the left flank in the absence of Monreal and their move for Schalke left-back Sead Kolasinac pretty much confirms it.
Gibbs has a big possibility of leaving the side given his lack of first-team action, and 23-year-old Kolasinac looks Arsenal’s future in that role. However, Monreal seems to be their first choice momentarily. But, before kicking off next season the Gunners are scheduled to make a huge decision on manager Arsene Wenger.
The 67-year-old Frenchman is Arsenal’s face in many ways and is known to have a huge influence on the players. And Monreal’s case is no different. If reports are to believed, his future at the club hinges hugely upon Wenger’s future with Arsenal. The manager has been subject to harsh criticisms this season during Arsenal’s bad patch in the middle, with both fans and critics advising the club against extending his contract.
However, Arsenal’s FA Cup win has surely made his case stronger. Monreal has developed into a world-class centre-half under Wenger, whose recovery pace and intelligent game reading have helped Arsenal on numerous occasions. Since arriving at Arsenal he has played 174 games for them becoming an established member of the squad, and Arsenal should definitely not let him go anytime in the near future.
