Arsenal: New Nacho Monreal deal muddles leftback situation

Arsenal are supposedly pursuing offering Nacho Monreal a new deal, and while it’s not inherently a bad idea, there are some things to consider.

Arsenal‘s fullback situation has not been as sturdy as we may have expected it to be, given that they had two diverse options at each respective position, but you might be able to chalk it up to bad luck. Or… you might not.

Nacho Monreal is out of contract at the end of the year, and the Gunners are supposedly in talks with the Spaniard regarding a potential extension. I’ve been lukewarm on this prospect since it appeared, not because I don’t want Monreal to stay, but because of how it muddles the situation as a whole.

With Sead Kolasinac as injury-prone as he is and Monreal getting older, suddenly more injury prone, and likely to proceed on that unavoidable steady decline, the leftback situation is less than sturdy with these two in charge.

You could start talking about a third option, but having three leftbacks on a club really isn’t an ideal situation either. Because what if Kolasinac and Monreal both stay healthy? Then there are not enough minutes to go around.

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The ideal situation is to have two fullbacks. On opposite sides of the spectrum – one better at defending, one better at attacking. On paper, we have that. But on the pitch, the variables have cast such uncertainty on the situation.

What might be more advisable is to find a more reliable, younger, defense-first option to replace Monreal for the longhaul, though that poses the problem of costing money, which as we have learned since Kroenke took over, is not always a sure thing, especially when there are other needs present. Bigger needs.

There’s always Ainsley Maitland-Niles, but how long can he be strung along as a utility man? Eventually he is going to get fed up with it and look for something else.

It’s not an easy situation to solve. Rightback isn’t any easier, but don’t get be started on that. The easiest solution – and by easiest, I of course mean cheapest – is to give Monreal this deal, say a prayer that nothing goes wrong, and let Maitland-Niles know that he is the third option if things go awry.

Still so many variables that could go wrong, but let’s see how the rest of the season pans out. If Kolasinac could just stay healthy, that would solve everything.