Left-back reveals how phone-call from Santi Cazorla persuaded him to join Arsenal
Nacho Monreal has revealed that it was a phone-call from Santi Cazorla that convinced him to join Arsenal.
The Gunners signed the Spanish left-back from La Liga side Malaga back in January 2013, and speaking to the club’s official website, Monreal has now revealed that he spoke to Cazorla on the morning of the transfer.
Monreal and Cazorla played together during their time at Malaga, and it was the midfield-maestro that played middle-man in the transfer by calling up the defender in the first place.
Monreal Discusses Transfer
‘I remember on January 31, I woke up, looked at my phone and has two [missed] calls from Santi. And I thought it was really strange, Santi calling me in the morning,’ said Monreal.
‘So I called him: “Santi, how are you? What’s happened? [he replied] “Nacho, do you want to come to Arsenal?” [I replied] “What, pardon me? Yes, of course”‘
‘So the transfer was really quick. On one day I was training in the morning with Malaga and I didn’t know anything, and then 10 hours later I was signing my contract with Arsenal. It was a really, really strange day for me, really happy of course, a good day for me.’
After initially struggling to settle into life at the Emirates Stadium, Monreal has quickly developed into one of Arsene Wenger’s regulars and most trustworthy players.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
