Arsenal star Nacho Monreal urges Laurent Koscielny to end his strike and start the new season
NACHO MONREAL has urged Laurent Koscielny to end his Arsenal strike and lead the Gunners into the new season.
Captain Koscielny stunned his team-mates when he refused to take part in the club’s two-week tour of the United States.
Now he has been ordered to train with the kids at London Colney while Arsenal consider disciplinary action against the centre-half.
But Monreal believes his defensive partner could have a change of heart.
Monreal said: “We respect Laurent. He has played for Arsenal for a long time and he is our captain.
“What I would like to see is that they fix the problem between them. And I think they will do that.
“Can he still carry on at Arsenal? Yeah, why not?”
Like Koscielny, Monreal, 33, has one year left on his deal and has been linked with a return to Spain.
Yet despite interest from Real Sociedad, he insisted: “I belong at Arsenal. I have a contract and my idea is to continue playing for them.
“I am not worried about the size of the squad.
“Petr Cech decided to retire and we’ve lost Aaron Ramsey, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Danny Welbeck.
“But I know the club is looking 100 per cent for players and I am sure they will come.”
'WE NEED TOP-FOUR FINISH'
Arsenal’s recruitment has been hit by their failure to qualify for the Champions League and Monreal added: “The club needs to finish in the top four for the money.
“Then we will have more options to bring in the players we need to help Arsenal get back to where we belong.”
Monreal was one of six captains last season.
But with Cech and Ramsey leaving and Koscielny doing his best to follow them the veteran is now one the most senior players at the club.
He admitted: “We are talking about one of the great clubs in football and if the armband is offered of course I will accept.
“We have plenty of leaders, important players with a lot of experience at the club and with national teams. So this isn’t going to be a problem.”
Arsenal suffered a blow yesterday when Celtic rejected their record £25million bid for Kieran Tierney, 22.
The Gunners lodged a second offer for the Hoops left-back over the weekend.
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But SunSport understands Celtic told them they will not accept the proposed structure of the £25m deal.
Celtic chiefs value Tierney in that price bracket — but Arsenal's total bid includes add-on payments.
The Prem giants are now expected to adjust the terms and come back with a third offer.
