Nacho Monreal will leave Arsenal at the end of the season according to Sport in Spain who are tracking Barcelona’s interest in the defender.

Back in January, ESPN reported that the club had taken up the option to extend the full-back’s contract and that he would be staying for another year. Great news! We all thought. Nacho is a firm favourite at the club and his performances rarely let us down.

Around February, it started to seem odd to me that the club had still made no mention of this move, so I wasn’t surprised to read in Friday’s Mundo Deportivo that they believe Nacho’s contract still ends this summer and he will be available on a Bosman – something that has Barcelona very interested.

Today (Tuesday) Sport state that he will definitely leave at the end of the season.

The above passage reads, “Nacho Monreal is the other option. At 33 years of age he will leave the Premier League. His contract ends in the Arsenal. The ex-international already knows the interest Barca and would like to put to the orders of Valverde to take the role of being the ‘shadow’ of Jordi Alba. It would be the culmination of his football career.”

Leaving aside the arrogance of this article that thinks playing back-up at Barcelona is a bigger career move than being first-choice at Arsenal, it seems like the Spaniard’s time at the club is coming to an end which is a real shame.

Although he’s 33, he still has plenty to offer (or Barcelona wouldn’t be interested in him) and is a real favourite with fans and is yet another player leaving for nothing.