Arsenal: Nacho Monreal extension tantamount to desperation

Arsenal have reportedly activated the one-year extension in Nacho Monreal’s contract, which, honestly comes down to nothing more than desperation.

We should have all been made perfectly aware when Unai Emery took over Arsenal that this was a long-term project. The early estimation was that he would need three transfer windows before we started to see any real change, or a solid direction where the club was going.

That becomes even more important to remember when you consider the limited transfer budget that the club will be working with for the foreseeable future. They don’t have an expendable income to address every individual problem and, in return, will be asking on some old dogs to keep the grit and determination up long enough to plug the gap.

Nacho Monreal is one such case. With Aaron Ramsey set to depart, the club is undoubtedly desperate to not have a repeat situation that they are woefully unprepared for, and Monreal’s contract was to expire at the end of the year too.

While it is far from the detrimental situation that Ramsey has become, it was still pretty important. You can’t have Sead Kolasinac alone when he is so injury prone and while his viability as a straight fullback is so questionable.

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Thus, reports have started popping up that the club has extended Monreal, activating the one-year clause in his contract to keep him until the end of next year.

Monreal is a solid presence to have around. Everyone likes him and he is perfectly adequate. But in case you can’t tell by my tone, we can do better. We should do better. The problem is, right now, we can’t afford to do any better.

That’s all this amounts to – desperation. Arsenal essentially had to extend Monreal because they couldn’t afford to address the situation any other way. They have too many other situations they have to address – central defense, wingers, creative midfield, etc. Leftback is so far back in line that you can’t expect them to commit any funds to it.

As such, Monreal is the answer. Sure, it may fall in the category of desperation, but I think we can do far worse than extending the Spaniard.

It’s not exactly exciting, and chances are there will be gripes concerning Monreal, his health, or his declining abilities, but the alternative was to let him go and not address the situation at all. You tell me which you’d prefer.