Real Sociedad are targeting Nacho Monreal as a summer signing, according to reports in Spain, with the defender’s contract with Arsenal now entering it’s final year.

Noticias de Gipuzkoa write that Monreal welcomes interest from the Spanish side, but has made it clear that before they go any further, they need to agree a deal with Arsenal.

The report emphasises that Real Sociedad and the Gunners have dealt with each other a lot in the past, in the cases of Carlos Vela, Fran Merida, and Joel Campbell, who almost joined the club. They also have good connections to new head coach Unai Emery.

The biggest problem they highlight is that Emery doesn’t even seem to be on the lookout for a left-back. The impression in the media is that this isn’t an area where the squad is expecting a major overhaul.

In all honesty, I wouldn’t expect much movement in the full-back department either. Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal, Sead Kolasinac and the new addition of Stephan Lichtsteiner still only makes one starting full-back and one alternative option on each side.

Selling any one of them would require purchasing a replacement, so Sociedad would need to make a substantial offer. That doesn’t seem particularly likely at this stage.