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News
Unai Emery apparantly wanted Nacho Monreal to play against Tottenham
Arsenal manager Unai Emery supposedly wanted Nacho Monreal to play one last game against Tottenham Hotspur before completing his move to Real Sociedad.
That’s the claim from the player himself, who left the Gunners on August 31 after a six-and-a-half year stint at the Emirates Stadium.
Monreal was allowed to leave the club after the transfer of Kieran Tierney from Celtic was completed after weeks of speculation.
, Monreal says he turned down Emery’s plea because ‘the most sensible thing was not to do it to avoid any unforeseen event’.
He added: “This year has been different, the parties were more open and in my head was the possibility for several weeks of playing here [at Sociedad].”
With Emery having failed to convince Monreal to delay his move, the Spaniard instead fielded Sead Kolasinac against Spurs.
TBR’s view
It is interesting that Emery wanted Monreal for one last game.
It suggests that perhaps the manager didn’t particularly want to lose him, and it also suggests that he does not have total confidence in Bosnia international Kolasinac.
Kolasinac did OK on his first start of the season, but one gets the feeling that he will be out of the team as soon as Tierney returns to full fitness in October.
If Emery really wanted Monreal – a player who clearly knew he was leaving the club – to stay and play ahead of Kolasinac, things may not bode well for the 26-year-old.