Monreal was interviewed recently and talked about the situation between Arsenal and Suvemendi.
Monreal had worked with Suvemendi in the dressing room at Real Sociedad and immediately saw that he had all the qualities to plug and play in the Premier League. So much so that he contacted Arteta and encouraged him to sign Suvimendi first.
Monreal said: "Yes, I talked to Arteta and the club a long time ago. I said to them that you need to pay attention to Suvemendi, because for me, when I came to Real Sociedad, such as Merino, he has already played for Newcastle He was already a good player at the time, but Suvimendi came from the academy and started from scratch."
"Even from the first moment, you could see something different, you know, something special. Something. You look at this lad, he was 20 or 21 years old but he was playing like he had been playing for 10 years. He had something special and in my opinion it was a very, very good transfer."
"Yes, Arsenal. It's a lot of money to pay for him, but he's worth it. He's still young and will be at his peak for the next six, seven, eight years, which is a good move for Arsenal and certainly for Souwemendi."
Monreal is now Global. Ases' football agent until he retires in 2022, he never felt he needed to step in and sell Arsenal's plans to Suvimendi because Arteta was already in control.
Monreal said: "Well, we didn't talk about Arsenal specifically, but the fact is that Liverpool also wanted to sign him at the time, and he told me that he was not ready to leave Real Sociedad. But this year, when he received the offer from Arsenal, he knew the time was right and that was where he should go."
"I know Arteta gave him a call Arteta is very, very good at calling players and telling them what they want to hear. He is very, very smart, but Arsenal really need this type of player."
Seeing three Spanish senior internationals play key roles in Arsenal's Premier League title challenge also brings huge personal joy to Monreal. He added of Merino and the ever-improving goalkeeper Raya: "Merino performed very well and scored a lot of goals. He didn't score so many goals at Real Sociedad, but now at Arsenal he plays a different role, always giving 100%, helping the team and always smiling."
"Raya also performed incredible, made a lot of saves, he is a fantastic signing."