page_title: Nacho Monreal
section_title: Arsenal
hierarchical_section_title: Nacho Monreal / Club career / Arsenal
caption_attribution_description: Nacho Monreal and Florian Thauvin
context_page_description: Ignacio "Nacho" Monreal Eraso is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left back or centre back for Real Sociedad and the Spanish national team.
  He started playing with Osasuna in 2005, going on to appear in 144 official games over the course of five La Liga seasons. In 2011 he signed with Málaga and, two years later, joined Arsenal, winning three FA Cup trophies with the latter club while taking part in 251 matches across all competitions.
  A full international since 2009, Monreal represented Spain at the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup.
context_section_description: On 31 January 2013, Monreal joined English side Arsenal on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee, believed by Sky Sports to be around £8.5 million. He was given the number 17 shirt, and made his Premier League debut against Stoke City two days later in a 1–0 home win.
  On 23 February 2013, Monreal provided the assist for countryman Santi Cazorla to score the winner in a 2–1 victory over Aston Villa. He scored his first goal for the Gunners on 16 March, opening a 2–0 win at Swansea City.
  Monreal returned from injury on 21 August 2013 to feature in Arsenal's 3–0 win at Fenerbahçe SK in the Champions League group stage play-off, playing the last three minutes in the place of Theo Walcott. On 26 September, he scored the deciding penalty in a shootout against West Bromwich Albion to send his team into the fourth round of the League Cup.
  Upon the arrival of Alexis Sánchez in the 2014 off-season, Monreal took the vacant number 18 previously worn by Sébastien Squillaci. On 23 August, he assisted Olivier Giroud's late equaliser in a 2–2 draw against Everton. Additionally, an injury crisis in the squad saw him being deployed in an unfamiliar central defender role in a string of games, after Laurent Koscielny was put out of action due to an Achilles tendon injury.
  On 9 March 2015, Monreal scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford that put Arsenal through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. He played the full 90 minutes in the decisive match, a 4–0 defeat of Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium.
  On 19 January 2016, Monreal signed a new long-term contract. On 23 April 2017, he scored the vital equaliser as his team came from behind to defeat Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
  On 6 November 2017, after good performances on the left side of a three-man defence, Monreal won the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Month award for October of that year. The following 20 January, he netted once and made two assists before retiring injured 30 minutes into an eventual 4–1 home win against Crystal Palace.
caption: Monreal marking Florian Thauvin during a Champions League match against Marseille in November 2013
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