One of Arsenal’s unsung heroes in the club’s rather silent years was Spanish full-back Nacho Monreal. Any given match, the former Malaga man would give it his all. A solid player, and an even nicer man off the field.
Nacho Monreal Recently Narrated that Hilarious Morning he Signed for Arsenal
Monreal joined the club in the winter transfer window of 2013. And more recently, he narrated how dramatically things went down before he reached London to sign for the club. He told Ladbrokes in an interview:
“I was in Malaga, playing for Malaga, and I remember, I woke up, I checked the phone and I had, two phone calls from Santi Cazorla. So I was a bit surprised…So, I arrived to the training ground and I called back, Santi, ‘Santi, what’s happening? Why are you calling me so early in the morning?’
“‘Nacho, Nacho, be quick, do you want to join for Arsenal?’
“I said, ‘What?’
“‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, the club, Arsene Wenger asked me if you want to join the club.’
“I was like, ‘What, really?’
“‘Yeah, yeah, Nacho. Yeah, it’s 100% serious.’
“And I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course I want to go.’“
Monreal went on to add that it all happened so quick that he hadn’t even told his wife that he had signed for Arsenal.
Nacho Monreal
Nacho Monreal and Alex Iwobi
Arsenal Fans Back in 2013 Had No Clue Who Nacho Monreal was
A boatload of Arsenal fans back in January 2013 didn’t have any idea about Nacho Monreal. Although, the Spaniard had been a regular in La Liga for over half a decade by then, he wasn’t popular among the Gooners.
Here are some tweets from 2013 about Monreal’s signing:
Nacho Monreal Arsenal
Tweets about Nacho Monreal’s signing back in 2013 (via Geoff Arsenal)
Monreal, after over 6 solid years with the club, returned to Spain to play for Real Sociedad in 2019. After three seasons, until 2022, he was a pretty regular starter. Monreal hung up his boots the same year.
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