Nacho Monreal has been a great servant to Arsenal football club and at one stage was known as ‘Mr Reliable.’ He arrived in 2013 and has been a consistent performer going forward and durable in defence but it has become clear in recent seasons that his legs had gone and that he can no longer cope with the pace of the premier league. It’s a little bit of a blow for those who have him on their fantasy soccer teams, however, this is due to his injuries.

Nacho Monreal will join @RealSociedad for two years with an option for a thrid this week provided there are no hiccups in the very advanced talks between the club and Arsenal [Óscar Badallo – Marca]

— Arsènic™ (@MrArsenicTM) August 24, 2019

I’ve been saying that for a while and it has worsened after recurring ankle injuries and a hamstring injury that Monreal has never really recovered from. Physically yes, but performance wise, no. He has lost his pace due to the injuries and is caught off-guard many times due to that.

Sadly, Emery has seen the short comings and there was plenty of evidence to suggest that the writing was on the wall after the Liverpool game. It was just too easy to get down the left flank and Monreal looked like he’d forgotten how to run backwards.

It’s now rumoured that a deal is likely, which will see Monreal return to Spain with Real Sociedad and all parties are hoping to agree terms before the transfer deadline on Sept 2nd. Despite a major number of soccer betting platforms offering poor odds on Arsenal clinching the Tierney deal, Arsenal eventually managed to seal the deal on deadline day, after which it made little sense having three first team left backs vying for the same position in the team.

The terms could offer Monreal a two year deal, possibly three but Monreal knows that with Kieran Tierney’s arrival and the younger Sead Kolasinac waiting in the wings, he would be third choice at best. Although, letting Monreal go can turn out to be a risky move with no cover to Kolasinac till early October which is the expected month in which Tierney will get back to full training.

Farewell loyal Arsenal servant Nacho Monreal? Real Sociedad are said to be interested in the Gunners left-back with Kieran Tierney very much the long-term option for Unai Emery. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/hGoYqelYFa

— Layth (@laythy29) August 24, 2019

Arsenal clearly covered their bets with injuries and new appointments and instead of making a conscious effort to offload the Spaniard in the premier league window, they knew of interest from Spain which would allow them to release him later. Emery was typically cautious about a move when he said of Monreal,

”We need to speak the next days because in Europe the transfer window isn’t finished yet. But we are going to speak about all the situation, the possibility.”

Which all seemed a bit vague but when pressed he added,

”With Nacho there is one possibility that’s open and we’re going to speak about that.”

Which in basic terms means it’s a fine deal.

https://twitter.com/DF_Arsenal/status/1164868409881964545?s=19

Arsenal won’t expect a bonus payment like they had when shipping out Koscielny and the fee could be rather insignificant. Yet any sum coming in to the club would help fund future investment in players and at this time, Monreal’s transfer would be another example of shrewd business.

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