Nacho Monreal has told the story of the day he signed for Arsenal, admitting he didn’t even manage to tell his wife before putting pen to paper.
Nacho Monreal spent six-and-a-half seasons playing for Arsenal, joining the Gunners in the January transfer window of 2013.
The deadline-day move was a last-minute decision by the club, who were initially planning to sign Monreal months later in the summer window. But after an injury to Kieran Gibbs and a dip in form for Andre Santos, Arsenal were convinced to make their move.
Reflecting on that day, Monreal has revealed that everything moved very quickly.
“I was in Malaga, playing for Malaga, and I remember I woke up, I checked the phone and I had two phone calls from Santi Cazorla,” Monreal recalled. “So I was a bit surprised.
“I arrived to the training ground and I called back. ‘Santi, what’s happened? Why are you calling me so early in the morning?’
“‘Nacho, Nacho, be quick, do you want to join for Arsenal?’
“I said ‘What?’
“‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, Arsene Wenger asked me if you want to join the club.’
“I was like ‘What, really?’
“‘Yeah, yeah, Nacho. Yeah, it’s 100% serious.’
“And I said, ‘Yeah, of course I want to go.’“
After training, then Malaga head coach Manuel Pellegrini confirmed to Monreal that there was a genuine offer on the table, and the player immediately said yes.
“Three hours later, I was in London, I was signing the contract” Monreal recalled. “I didn’t have time even to talk with my wife. I phone called her nine times. She didn’t reply because she was working.
“When she called me, ‘Nacho, what do you want? You called me nine, ten times.’
“‘I am in London.’
“‘What?’
“‘I just signed for Arsenal!’
“I didn’t even asked her if she wanted to come with me. Of course I knew she wanted to come.”
As for whether the transfer was the right decision, Monreal appears to have few doubts. The former left-back recalls that he wanted to stay with the Gunners for as long as he possibly could.
“In the next years, when I was playing for Arsenal, I always said to my agents that as long as Arsenal want me, I wanted to continue playing for Arsenal,” Monreal insisted. “Because for me, it was like a family. For me, only Arsenal.”
The defender won three FA Cups and three Community Shields with Arsenal, before going on to win the Copa del Rey with Real Sociedad. He then retired from his playing career in 2022, aged 36.