According to Marca Arsenal are waiting to complete the signing of Faouzi Ghoulam from Napoli before allowing Nacho Monreal to leave the club.

We have already covered both of these rumours this summer, but they won’t go away.

To reiterate – Monreal is Basque, so belongs to an extremely finite pool of players eligible to play for Athletic Club. As a result, he is being linked with them incessantly as one of very few players they could actually target. The left-back has one year remaining on his deal, but Arsenal have an option to extend his contract by a further year and the defender has said he is interested in a new deal.

As for Faouzi Ghoulam, the left-back would arguably suit Arsenal. The defender is strong in the air and good on the ball, also capable of playing left midfield. Capped 11 times for Algeria and still just 24, his ability to bomb down the wing would suit Arsenal.

But that doesn’t mean the club would have any interest in a deal, which would cost €12M if Napoli get their way, with Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal already providing great strength in that position.

Once again, the Spanish press seem determined to link Nacho Monreal with the Bilbao club at any cost as they can’t link many other players with them. Athletic Club probably do have some interest in the defender, but that doesn’t make him available.