Arsenal: “Need” is a strong word for Nacho Monreal

Nacho Monreal is getting all the attention regarding a new Arsenal contract, but is Unai Emery right to use the word “need” in relation to a new deal?

I’m getting tired of talking about Arsenal’s deteriorating fullback situation. I spent so much time bragging about it over the summer that I couldn’t wait to see how well the depth worked out for the club. They had experience and youth, speed and strength, creativity and leadership, and they all figured to compete against one another.

It’s gone so horribly wrong that if you were to tell me tomorrow that all the fullbacks had been sold except Stephan Lichtsteiner, I’d shrug and concede that it was for the best. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the point is that the fullback situation is not good.

Sead Kolasinac, who I think the world of, just can’t stay healthy all of a sudden and, until he does, he should be tagged as unreliable (by no fault of his own, obviously). Hector Bellerin isn’t getting any better and Nacho Monreal is getting older, slower, and easier to expose.

So hearing Unai Emery come out and say that Monreal “needs” a new deal was a bit jarring. Again, I’m all about seeing Monreal stay around, offer his support as a reserve, and help youngsters find their way, while making spot starts as necessary, but “need” is a strong word that makes me think of the club, desperately throwing money at him trying to keep him around.

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And while that may not be exactly what’s happening, that’s what I draw from the word association because, again, that’s a strong word to use for a player that isn’t all that necessary.

Unless the objective is to save money. I guess you could make the argument that Monreal is reliable, if not also including his shakiness, and therefore we’d rather have something we know than something new, unknown and also expensive.

Yet even still, with all of that considered, I wouldn’t say that we need Monreal. Yes, we should want to keep him, keyword ‘want,’ but need reeks of desperation, and I already feel kind of desperate enough about this fullback situation to go about thinking that we are tied to Monreal for the rest of time.

I really do like Monreal, and I do hope he stays, despite how this all sounds. I just hope we don’t glue ourselves to him.