Arsenal have announced that Nacho Monreal has left the club and signed for Real Sociedad.
The 33 year old joined the Gunners in January 2013, a surprise last minute signing on deadline day, and since then has made 250 appearances.
He began his career playing back-up to Kieran Gibbs, but soon made the left-back position his own. A versatile defender, he also played as a centre-half, in a back three and in a back four at times.
Nacho scored 10 goals for us, and won the FA Cup three times in 2014, 2015, and 2017.
A solid, reliable professional and an all round good guy, he will be missed – hopefully not too badly tomorrow when we face Sp*rs.
Arsenal did sign Kieran Tierney this summer for £25m, and he’s clearly the long-term replacement for the Spaniard.
Buena suerte, Nacho. Thanks for everything.
Thanks you Monreal. Always a gooner.
Sorry to see him go. A true gent.
The image in this link says it all :
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dams_and_reservoirs_in_Australia#/media/File%3AGordon_Dam%2C_Southwest_National_Park%2C_Tasmania.jpg
A model professional. Always gave 100% and never had any off-field drama. Thank you Nacho, once a gunner…..
His is by far a better gentleman than Kos.
Good luck Nacho….another captaincy spot opens
Reliable Nacho sold. Sad. I understand we have to balance the books
Always admired Monreal. Solid , reliable, highly underrated and a true gunner. Everytime we scored a goal, he was the first to to celebrate!
Will surely miss him. Good luck in Spain , Nacho!
A model pro and underrated player. Always gave everything and he was probably our most consistent player a couple of years ago. Hopefully Kolasinac can do a decent enough job in the short term. Enjoy life back in Spain Nacho.
Reliable & Consistent.
Thank you Nacho.
The majority of Arsenal players split opinion amongst the fan base, but Arsenal fans were almost unanimous in their positivity towards Monreal.
He’ll be a big miss, but I suppose it’s just numerically we couldn’t keep 3 left backs.
.
All round good guy. Will miss you Nacho. Good luck!
Thank you, Nacho. Enjoy your twilight years in that beautiful region mi amigo.
One of wenger’s great signings.
A player who always gave it his all, all the time and as a fan that is all we ask and want to see from our players week in week out, he will be solely missed. Te amo Nacho muchas grasias!
He’s only 33 also, and the versatility of his centre half abilities will be very beneficial to Sociedad.
And he’ll be 33 until he turns 34, cos that’s how it works
Mr. Consistent. Best of luck in Spain Nacho
That goal against city! Thanks Nacho!
United too!
True professional. Gave his everything until the very last minute he is needed and didn’t do a Koscielny. Hope he will come back as an assistant/defensive coach in the future.
One of Wenger’s best signings. A good solid full-back who could fill in at centre-half when needed. At his best he was very good. But this is the right time for him to go: we are ringing the changes and he belonged to the past. He won 3 FA Cups so had a decent career at the club.
This leaves us short in defence so we need Tierney fit soon.
Great guy, solid very good player, but definitely not “one of wengers best signings”.
Not even top 10 let’s be honest
i’d like to see this top ten to see how far out he is.
Henry, Pires, Vieira, Santi, Fabregas, Van Persie, Sagna, Sol, Toure, Ljungberg…….
That’s 10 better signings and I could put a few more in there before Monreal. I’d agree with the comment above.
Nice, though I would put giroud in above rvp even though both did the dirty
Agree with those 10, but don’t see him as too far outside that elite clique. Unfortunate for him the team around him was largely pants, otherwise his legacy might have been more impressive.
Top 10 of the second Wenger decade then. The decade when what he wanted and what he could afford didn’t always match up.
Wenger paid just £8.5 million for him six years ago. Then paid £35 million for the hopeless Mustafi. City paid £50 million for Kyle Walker.
So I’d say that Monreal was an excellent piece of business, wouldn’t you?
Yes because everything needs to be a list
1) I Agree
2) Your name is strange
3) Everybody loves a Top 10 list
4) Except people who don’t
Perhaps Wenger’s best left-back signing. I’m not one for goodbyes, I’m just disappointed he won’t be playing tomorrow, but my thoughts now turn to if Kolasanic can step up tomorrow, and also if Southampton can take points off of United today.
I hate to mention his name, but I reckon a certain Ca$hley was better than Monreal.
Shame to see him go now, we’d need him for another month or so! But as the window shuts on Monday, it’s understandable.
Worried about Kola against the Scum tomorrow…
He was from the academy wasn’t he so not a wenger signing?
Ashley Cole was the best left back I’ve ever seen play for us. Probably the best English left back of all time. Shame he turned out to be a bit of a cunt. Still an Arsenal legend for what he did on the pitch for us though.
About the only unloved Arsenal Legend going, Old Ca$hley C***.
They did haha
Fats didn’t say he was one of Wenger’s best players. But one of the best signings. Think in terms of transfer market savviness, Nacho’s up there.
Even if he was a bit wafty in his first season, but we can forgive that
Thank you for your contribution to the Arsenal, Nacho Monreal, and best wishes for the future.
He’s younger than our departed former captain, less injury prone – but we sold for £4.75 million less.
For £250k, I would have kept him as a reserve LB/LCB. He’s proper Arsenal. has consistently given 7 or 8 / 10 performances, and we’ve put ourselves in a jam regarding tomorrow’s formation purely to get £250,000 paid in installments. I don’t get it.
I’ve consistently been the only guy in the pub singing NACHO NACHO MAAAAN I WANT TO BE A NACHO MAN whenever he comes on, so I’ve got a soft spot for him – that song is worth £250k on its own.
Sounds like because he didnt do a Koscielny, the club wanted to do what’s best for him. Yes hes started all of our games so far, but he soon would of been very far down the pecking order and Sociedad probably wouldnt of been interested next season.
Yes but how does that help us for tomorrow?? Strange timing!
Unai, Edu and co obviously have a long term plan, which goes beyond tomorrow….hopefully.
Yes, reducing the wage Bill by not having 3LBs in the first team
Wouldn’t it be better for the wage bill if we got rid of our entire front line and just had Luiz try to score direct from kick-offs?
He’s also off the wage bill. That’s probably, I don’t know, 80/90 grand saved per week.
He and Ceballos have the same agent, maybe the low fee is a gesture so the agent could help with a possible permanent transfer for the latter at the end of the season.
Do they? Might be Raul playing the angles. . . . It is a ruthless move on one hand, but good for the player on the other. I’ve got no qualms with this, except for the timing. So, just the one qualm.
One qualm that might be a much smaller qualm if we win today!!
Mr. Dependable?…Nacho thank you and good luck. You wont be forgotten in a hurry!
My wife’s said just “good, now you can stop singing that song about him”
Not a chance. “Nach-o, Nach-o maaaaaan!! I want to be, a Nach-o-o man!”
??
Sue is that you from justarsenal? ??
It sure is ?
Mate. I’ve needed you in my local.
Haha always loved Monreal and loved belting his song, never seen a dreadful performance from him!
Ah, I’ll miss Mr Reliable. I don’t reckon we’ve had anyone else for a long time who is always a solid 7/10 for us. Always a total professional, seemed like a great guy. It’s nice when someone goes with warm wishes. I kind of hoped we’d keep him but I guess he wanted to prolong his career.
Good luck Nacho!
Last I remember is Sagna.
And Lauren before that and Ray before that. We can go on and these were the guys who were always there, putting a shift in and rarely injured.
Will miss you Nacho – you’ve joined that elite list.
Sagna was a bit better. More like a reliable 8/10 performer. Never the best in the world but never far off.
Thanks to a true professional. Hope he has a successful end of career, but…… couldn’t we have kept him for the NLD?
“He began his career playing back-up to Kieran Gibbs”
Gibbs turns 30 next month. God I feel old…
This departure actually made me sad. Nacho has been a good player for us and appearantly a good influence in the dressing room.
Have a good return!
Thanks for the memories, Nacho! Good luck in Spain
Great guy.. He knew he wasn’t the most talented left back…but he kept to his task and did it efficiently…shame he didn’t win the premier league and Europa league with us
Off topic- expect a shocker tomorrow…not feeling good about tomorrow match…Emery doesn’t fill me with confidence
That’s exactly what we need. A hearty dose of pessimism before the NLD! (Sarcasm)
At least wait until after the game to judge the performance or should the player rating open now?
Back on subject… Nacho, I’m sorry to see you go.
he wasnt judging the performance. just saying he doesnt have a good gut feeling about the result.
no shame in that and he shouldnt keep his opinion to himself.
I don’t have a good gut feeling either. I think it must have been the lasagne.
that will cover ozils wages until about Wednesday! i fully trust where the club is going at the moment, but selling one of our most reliable players in a position we need filled for this sunday is strange.
If only you could bottle his energy, effort and enthusiasm and spray it on some of our other players. Always gave 110% for the Arsenal. Wish him all the very best at his new club.
What the actual fuck?! I know full well he probably forced it through but shit we still need him at LB
All the best Nacho.
And another Wenger stalwart rides off into the sunset for their well earned pre-retirement swansong. He was Arsenals Mr. Dependable over the last 5 or so years, truly a fantastic signing for us.
Sad theres no Emirates send off for him, worried about Kolasinac deputising until Tierney is fit and ready too, and with the leadership void in the squad you feel we could have really used him this season but you can’t begrudge him wanting to go home at 33.
He’ll be excellent deputising for Tierney during the International break. Even on his worst day he can’t bugger that up.
Too soon! Would have loved to have kept him one more year … at least one more game!
Whats the fee
I remembered in his first season, he struggled in his form and in his communication of the english language.. but instead of giving up and acting like a diva, he humbled himself and prove to others that he is capable of playing at Arsenal. Professional through and through. He will be sorely missed.
Over the course of his entire arsenal career he’d score a solid 7.5, close to 8 out of ten. There’s not many players that can be said about. A thorough professional, never shirked and always gave 100%. Good luck to him in Spain.
Kolasinac’s season starts now.
So our ruthless board sold Monreal for 250K – who we easily could have held on to for another six months, but maligned and destroyed the reputation of a bigger, much older and injury prone player in Koscielny after serving us and putting himself on the line without any hint of dissatisfaction for a decade. Nice. So much for the Arsenal values.
I loved Koscielny as a player but what he did at the end was unforgivable. Why exactly was he maligned by Arsenal who looked after him through his long time off with his injury. It was The player himself who destroyed his own reputation
Koscielny just asked the club to honor a gentleman agreement and do what they just did for Monreal – let him go on a free (yes, I consider 250K as a free transfer) seeing as we won’t offer him an expansive package at his age and he’d get the chance to end his career at home.
@martin
Lol so if a player plays his ass off and gets injured he shouldn’t be paid? He should go on leave and figure it out himself without getting paid?
Whatever Arsenal buggered up with Koscielny that made him go against his usual behaviour, I expect that they have reacted to that by making sure Nacho didn’t end up in the same boat. It may actually suggest they have a bit more common sense now.
It’s actually a matter of timing, I think. Nacho was let go after his successor (Tierney) was secured, while Koscielny tried to force the issue before Arsenal could do any business regarding the backline.
And let’s not forget that Koscielny himself didn’t have the best behavior in this ordeal, while Monreal was a model player til the end.
Good luck, Nacho. Thanks for the memories. Most especially the goals against the Manchester lot on our FA Cup record breaking runs. Will miss seeing you don the red and white of The Arsenal, Mr Consistent. Always a gooner.
Pisstake, not fucking happy at all with this!
My favorite. Will be missed.
Farewell Nacho, so long and thanks for all the crisps.
He was one player over the period of time he was with us that never seemed to be in a slump. He’d have a bad match for sure, but always came back and played strong in the next one and has been one of the most consistent players by far that we’ve had over his time. he was always available, was versatile and you knew what you’d get from him each match (which obviously isn’t the case with all players). Sad to see him go, but happy for him going back home to end his career. Hard to believe though… Read more »
When players consider joining us they are also likely to consider how players have left us. We can’t afford to have a reputation as a Club that goes back on gentleman’s agreements or treats outgoing players like shit. I think somebody at the Club has thought about our reputation in the light of Koscielny’s departure and decided we should try harder to look like a Club that players would trust and WANT to be a part of.
Only if Nacho and Sagna had played together in their prime. Both solid full backs and so underrated. Best of Luck Nacho.
Good luck Monreal. I wish success at your new club. I will miss you.
Sorry, but for all the good transfer work arsenal have done this year, this one doesn’t make much sense to me. This leaves us with kolasinac who is not a great defender and counting on Tierney to recover in a timely manner (and not get reinjured). Leaves us a bit threadbare at LB. and for the fee they are getting, it’s not like the team is would lose a lot of cash by keeping him until his contract is up and allowing time to replace him properly.
Obviously there’s more to this transfer. The board might not be letting the cat out of the bag..yet, but I suspect that the little fee was meant to allow him get a better wage offer from his new club. A way of saying “thank you” for your dedicated and drama free services to the club. He was dedicated to the very last day. Kolsceney could have had a much better appreciation from both fans and club (but for his refusal not to join on the U.S trip). He should have gone and still insisted that he wants to leave, and… Read more »
Or maybe there really isn’t a market for Monreal?
Maybe the club didn’t want kos to leave especially in a gentleman’s agreement for a low to no fee? Idk and you don’t either. Why would kos risk injury trying to leave?
Quite baffled by the decision to sell him, and hopefully this decision don’t come to bite our arse.
With this said, good luck Nacho! one of those players no one can say something bad about, such a professional and role model, such versatility, and a player we always counted on and barely put a foot wrong for us! Will be sorely missed, and maybe not a “legend” per say, but I’m sure he won a place in many of us as an Arsenal player!
All the best Monreal, a true gent!
I noticed he was quite slow in the Liverpool game. Maybe he knew his fitness would not be up for it in the PL season and asked to leave.
While Tierney recovers who do we have as back up to Kolo for left back position?
It’s quite possible that last season was a bit tough on him. We have people measuring all kinds of details about the player’s health and fitness. Maybe it was just obvious to him and the Club that this season in the PL might be just that little bit too much for him.
Thank you Nacho God bless you and your future endeavors
Thanks Nacho. Always 110%.
Bye Mon good luck and thank you.
This, I fear, is an ill-advised decision. Tierney won’t start playing until October and probably won’t be fully integrated into the team’s playing style until the end of the year. SK is not a great defender and may suffer in a 442 formation. Why risk it when we really didn’t even receive an attractive transfer fee for Nacho? We could have looked to move him on in January. Very odd. But I echo what has been posted in wishing him all the best.
Oh no, I just realized something about Nacho’s departure…No more Canadian city’s banter in the site. Sad day indeed 🙁
. . . goddamned autocorrect. . .
The board is full of idiots. This business doesn’t make sense!! Should have sold Kolasinac and let Monreal help Tierney to develop.
Why do i support this club, i just dont get it.
If age has caught up with Nacho then this season at Arsenal might just have wrecked his reputation for solidity, and made him more likely to get a long term injury due to the speed of the PL game. We aren’t privy to all the information. We can only guess at their reasons and timings, and feel sad when a favourite moves on. This business may have been the least worst option for everybody involved.
I don’t think Kolasinac is as poor defensively as some would imagine him. He just needs to be given more restrictions but that will invariably curtail his better points bombing forward. Monreal was not entirely water tight either and had many occasions he was caught too high up field. I think there is a bit of risk selling him now as oppose to say January. That said, I suppose the news on the Tierney (and Bellerin) front is good to justify the risk. As I mentioned before Tierney is a good signing for us and an opportunity buy but I… Read more »