Unai Emery knew all about Nacho Monreal before taking over as our head coach - and says his compatriot is living up to his high expectations of him.

The Spanish defender is approaching six years at the club and there have been rumours that he could sign a new contract, which our head coach is all in favour of.

"First, I knew Nacho Monreal in Spain when he was playing in Osasuna and at Malaga. After six years here, I came here and I know him as a new Nacho Monreal," Emery said.

"After two weeks, after two months and now, I can say that I am very happy with him because he is 32 years old but I think physically, with his performances with us in matches, he is playing with a very good level.

"The rest of that, for me, is very important. I think we need to find a new contract with him to stay with the Arsenal team."