So far during the current campaign the Arsenal left back role on the first team has mainly belonged to the Spaniard Nacho Monreal. He has started 19 of the 20 Premier League games, coming on as a sub in the other, and four of the six Champions League games.
That must have been frustrating for the England international Kieran Gibbs, especially as he has played well when given a chance and done nothing wrong. With the Euro 2016 championships just a few months away Gibbs knows that he needs to play more to have a real chance of getting into Roy Hodgson’s team but things could be looking up for the defender.
In the press conference reported by the Arsenal website yesterday Arsene Wenger spoke about the two left backs and suggested that Gibbs could be set for many more starts in the second half of the season. The boss is clearly delighted to have two players fighting for the position and playing well when he picks them.
He said, “The regularity of his [Monreal’s] performances, the fact that he has improved every year since he arrived. He is not necessarily my first-choice left back. At the moment he plays more than Kieran Gibbs but I think I’m a bit spoilt there because Gibbs has come back and has shown again on Saturday [that he plays] at a very, very strong level. That makes my decisions at that level very difficult but overall Nacho Monreal has been absolutely outstanding.”
There have been quite few Arsenal transfer rumours over the last year or so that have linked the Spaniard with a return to La Liga but last week we heard the news that he was set to sign a new contract with the Gunners. Could those contract talks have been the reason why the boss kept picking Monreal over Gibbs? And now the deal is done will see a lot more of Gibbs?