Former Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal has spoken about the club’s signing of Spanish midfield maestro Martin Zvimendi this summer.
Monreal, who played for both Arsenal and Zvimendi’s former club Real Sociedad, admits he has long been a big fan of the player, having first seen him as a child.
Zvimendi was quickly regarded as one of the world’s top players in his position and Arsenal completed a real coup by winning the race to sign him.
Monreal has now spoken to the Daily Mirror about his role in the deal and the fact that the player specifically turned down an offer from Liverpool a year ago.
What Nacho Monreal told Arsenal about Martin Zvimendi
Monreal clearly assessed Zvimendi fairly quickly, admitting that he made Arsenal aware of him and encouraged him to move.
However, the Gunners manager praised Mikel Arteta, who is known for his persuasive powers when it comes to attracting players to the club, for getting the deal done.
“Yes, I spoke to him (Arteta) and the whole club a long time ago,” Monreal said.
“I told them: ‘You have to look at Martin Zvimendi’, because for me when I arrived at Real Sociedad, Mikel Merino, for example, was already playing for Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund.
“He was already a good player, but Martin was starting from scratch, coming from the academy.
“From the beginning, even from the first moment, I could see something different, something special.
“This guy is 20, 21 years old and he’s performing like he’s been playing for 10 years already.
“He has something different and was a really, really good move in my opinion.
“Yes, they paid a lot of money for him, but he deserved it. He is still young and will remain at the top level for the next six, seven, eight years. This was a good move for Arsenal and of course for Martin.”
Nacho Monreal tells the ‘truth’ about Martin Zvimendi’s Liverpool scandal
Speaking about his talks with Liverpool, he added: “We didn’t talk about Arsenal exactly, but Liverpool were actually interested in signing him and he said he wasn’t ready to leave Real Sociedad.
“But when he received the offer from Arsenal this year, he knew it was the right time and the right place to go.
“I know Mikel called him, but Mikel is really, really good when he calls players and tells them exactly what they want to hear.
“He’s a very, very smart player, but Arsenal really needed this kind of player.”
Zvimendi has been in great form for Arsenal and it’s easy to imagine him making a big splash at Anfield, but it just didn’t work out.
This is good news for AFC, who currently sit top of the Premier League and are probably the favorites to take the title from LFC this season.
