When Nacho Monreal signed for Arsenal on Deadline Day 2013, many saw it as a panic buy by Arsène Wenger. Kieran Gibbs had suffered another long-term injury and André Santos — about whom it is best not to say too much — had been shipped off to Grêmio on loan. Whether or not Monreal was a panic buy is another matter, but over a period of a few years he settled down to become a crucial part of Arsenal’s team.

Unsung Hero Nacho Monreal: Arsenal’s Hidden Gem

For the first eighteen months of his Arsenal career, Monreal did not receive much praise but quite a bit of criticism. He was seen as inferior to Gibbs, too slow and weak defensively, and generally not good enough for the Arsenal side. Though he played 23 times in his first full season, he mostly featured as a substitute and often found himself on the wing instead of at left-back. His role in the team seemed to be coming on late in games to close out results, and when he started in defence, he generally struggled.

The criticism he received was a tad unfair — he had not set the world alight, but though he had a torrid time in a few fixtures, he had largely done what was expected of him. He was not ready to be starting in a team with title ambitions, but suitable back-up for the promising Kieran Gibbs.

In his second full season, the tides turned. At the start, he found himself at centre-back due to injury problems in the Arsenal defence. He performed admirably in new surroundings. As with last season, he received undue criticism and struggled in a few matches, but that was only to be expected of a small left-back playing in the centre. However, once he was allowed to play at left-back again, he flourished.

On 9th March, 2015, the world took notice of him. As Arsenal won at Old Trafford for the first time since 2006, Monreal got himself on the scoresheet and put in his best performance for The Gunners to date. Before that match in the FA Cup, he had already put in a string of strong performances and even won some praise from a few Arsenal fans, but it was not until that point that the Spaniard gained notoriety. After that match he continued to perform brilliantly, and was a silent but important part of Arsenal’s FA Cup-retaining team.

Despite his strong performances, Monreal has not received anywhere near the plaudits he deserves; not from non-Arsenal fans, at any rate. He has far outperformed Kieran Gibbs, contributed to Arsenal’s play both in attack and defence, and played with a maturity which has had a positive effect on the players around him. As well as Olivier Giroud and Hector Bellerin, he is probably Arsenal’s most-improved player. It would not even be an exaggeration to say that, other than Alexis Sánchez, he was one of Arsenal’s best players last season.

What was first noticeable about how well he was playing was that one did not notice him at all. Unless they are bombing forward and creating attacks, full-backs should not be noticed. Their defensive work should not be flashy —rather, and this counts for all defenders, they should be dealing with attackers long before they have to resort to dramatic, last-ditch challenges. Monreal has carried out that particular defensive ideal with some aplomb this season. He has not made many eye-catching challenges, but has not made many eye-catching errors, either. This goes to show that he deals with defensive difficulties before they start to develop.

Yes, he has had some difficult games this season and some wingers have managed to exploit his slight lack of pace, but his positioning has been noticeably strong, and therefore he has managed to survive the difficult games and thrive in the more comfortable ones. As he is a left-back — a position not at the centre of fans’ attention — he has not received too many plaudits, but without his performances this year, Arsenal may have found it much more difficult to achieve what they have done.

In 2016, there is a chance that Arsenal could be making a serious challenge for the title. The signing of Petr Cech means that, provided either Per Mertesacker performs like he did in 2015 rather than in late 2014 or Gabriel turns out to be even better, Arsenal will have a very strong defence indeed. It is tempting to think that Arsenal should upgrade Monreal for someone even better, but spectacular full-backs are more a luxury than necessity in a title-winning team.

Provided he continues to defend well, Nacho Monreal is more than up to regularly playing in a top quality team. He became something of an unsung hero last season, but it is up to him to grab people’s attention in the right way next season. His aim must be to continue to improve, prove that last season was not a one-off, and keep Kieran Gibbs out of the starting line-up.