Nacho Monreal joined Arsenal in 2013 from Malaga, and during his time with the Gunners he won the FA Cup three times, as well as adding three Community Shields to the trophy cabinet.
Throughout his time with the Premier League club, Monreal was linked with a move to Athletic Club Bilbao. One of the limited number of players the Basque club can sign, it was an obvious rumour because Athletic were almost obliged to have an interest given their recruitment policy.
In the end, when it came to returning to the Basque region, Monreal signed for their rivals Real Sociedad, who don’t have the same restrictions on recruitment, instead.
Since then he’s repeatedly spoken fondly about his time with Arsenal, and the club come up in most of the defender’s interviews.
Wednesday’s edition of Marca carries a chat with Monreal, and it’s largely based around Real Sociedad’s chances of winning the Copa del Rey, a competition in which they could face Athletic Club Bilbao in the final.
Asked if it would be ‘more valuable’ to win a trophy with La Real than the Gunners, Monreal agreed: “Yes, of course. Winning is always winning, no matter where you are, but when you are in a club like Arsenal, you are forced to fight for titles every season.
“It is known that it is very difficult, but the team is designed for it, while I think Real has other types of objectives. It would be an important success to win something here, something wonderful. I think I would enjoy it as much or more as I did with Arsenal.”
