Arsenal: Junior Firpo makes Nacho Monreal rumors palpable

Arsenal entered rare territory, with rumors to a sale involving Nacho Monreal. And with the sudden link to Junior Firpo, we may need to pay attention.

Arsenal’s transfer situation is shaping up rather nicely, with a lot of key positions being filled, and being filled early enough that there wasn’t even time for us, as fans, to panic.

But with how much is being spent, it is likely that sales are going to happen at some point, whether we like it or not. However, the links to sales have been remarkably slim, with a bit of muttered chatter circling about Shkodran Mustafi, but nothing concrete.

Nacho Monreal was the first player to be tied to an exit, and a lot of fans thought the same thing – it was like the Gunners of old, who would proactively sell a player before they could begin to naturally deteriorate from age.

Still, nothing really seemed palpable within the rumor itself. Yes, it made some sense, but it wouldn’t make sense to ditch our starting leftback and leave Sead Kolasinac all alone.

Not with how injury prone the Bosnian fullback is. He needs some feasible form of assurance that should he get hurt, there will be cover. That is what Nacho Monreal provided for the club. And now he is being linked to a move back to Spain, in particular Spanish side Real Sociedad.

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Right on the back of this rumor is the link to 21-year-old left back Junior Firpo, of Real Betis. The Dominican left back has a release clause of about £22m, which is a price that you can bet the Gunners are looking at as a realistic fee to pay, even in spite of the signings they have already made.

Firpo would provide an upgrade on the athleticism that Monreal has been slowly losing and, having played just over 1100 minutes with Real Betis, he has a growing level of experience in a top European League.

In that time, Firpo managed two goals and two assists, playing primarily left back.

While leftback isn’t presently a position of concern, the ongoing risk that Monreal tops out and no longer holds any viability in the Premier League is serious.

Setting up Firpo behind Kolasinac sets the position up for a long time to come. Both haven’t hit their prime years yet and both bring different skill sets to the table.

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It’s one of those rare no-loss moves. That is, assuming Monreal is allowed to leave, because if he’s not, there’s not point in Firpo.

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