Arsenal to complete deal for BRILLIANT defender!

There have been so many outstanding performers for Arsenal at various stages of this season that the less eye-catching players have maybe gone under the radar and not been given the credit they deserve. With the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud grabbing the plaudits for their scoring exploits and some surprises from the emergence of new stars like Coquelin and Bellerin, poor old Nacho Monreal has been nowhere near any of the player awards.

And after he lost his place in the Spain national side recently, you could have forgiven the Spaniard for feeling a bit sorry for himself, but he has not done that. In fact the left back has been better than ever for Arsenal. When you consider that Kieran Gibbs has improved in recent years and seems to have overcome the injury problems that dogged his early career, the way Monreal has performed to keep him out of the side deserves great credit.

Arsene Wenger is in no doubt about his worth though and is set to reward the 29-year old with a pay rise and a new contract that will keep him at the club for another four years, according to a Metro report. He is likely to keep facing strong competition from Gibbs but that is what we want and the left back position highlights just how strong and deep the squad is becoming.