Nacho Monreal talks training with a young Bukayo Saka & Myles Lewis-Skelly's England place

Former Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal speaks exclusively to Ladbrokes on training with a young Bukayo Saka, his former Real Sociedad team-mate Martin Zubimendi and his thoughts on Myles Lewis-Skelly's England place.

I was there when Bukayo Saka first trained with the first-team... it's no surprise he's one of the best in the world

It's crazy to think that Bukayo Saka started out as a left-back for us, and I was there when he joined up with the first-team. If you look at him now, there’s just no way you’d put him in that area of the pitch, when you think about how strong he is offensively! 

He’s one of the best players in the Premier League right now, for sure. I’m so proud of him because he worked hard in the academy, he’s a fan of the club, and everyone loves him. I only have good memories of working with Bukayo; he was so young at the time and it was Unai Emery who gave him his first chance with the senior team. 

I can remember in training, even when he was so young, there was just something different about him. You could see he had something completely different, and special. He wasn’t scared or fazed by anything at all. I can remember he had so much quality when it came to finishing; whether it was with his left or his right foot, that was a real strength of his, and so it was no surprise to me when he was moved from left-back to a position much higher up the pitch. 

He was so special, and having been there when he first came into the first-team, for me it’s no surprise at all that he’s one of the best players in the world. On top of everything, he’s a top, top guy. He’s very quiet and he never makes a fuss over anything; he’s a great team player and he was always so polite.   

His biggest trait is that he loves the game so much; it’s all he is focused on. He gets so much credit, and rightly so, but I have no doubt even more is to come for him, and he’s going to win more trophies. He’s a top player, but an even better person. 

Zubimendi is my former team-mate... I'm not surprised he's done so well at Arsenal

I played with Martin Zubimendi for three or four years at Real Sociedad, and obviously I was texting him in the summer to see whether he was signing for Arsenal or not, but he wasn’t able to tell me until it was official! 

As soon as he was confirmed as an Arsenal player, though, I knew he was going to be so good for the team because I know him so well. For me, his impact has not been a surprise, because I know what he’s capable of. And I knew that, with Mikel Arteta in charge, he was going to be a top, top player. 

He just does everything well; he has everything. He’s quality on the ball, he’s a good passer, he understands the game so well, he knows when to slow things down and when to accelerate… I think he’s surprised a lot of fans, with the fact that he’s been able to adapt to the league so quickly but, for me, I knew this would be the case with Zubi. 

Does Myles Lewis-Skelly need to worry about his England place? 

It's a difficult situation when it comes to Myles Lewis-Skelly, because we know so much about his quality and when he is playing, he’s completely able and doesn’t look out of place at all. But he’s in a tough position because ahead of him is Riccardo Calafiori, who has just been incredible up to this point this season.

I think he’s playing ahead of Lewis-Skelly because he’s a bit stronger defensively; both players have their strengths, but for how Arsenal are playing right now, I can understand why Calafiori is preferred over Lewis-Skelly.  

He’s much more of a threat from set-pieces, which is obviously such a huge part of Arsenal’s game right now. I would say there will be plenty of times this season where Lewis-Skelly will be preferred, though, because he offers something different. 

If I was him, I wouldn’t be worrying about my place in the England squad ahead of next year’s World Cup; he’s in the right place, he’s playing enough football and all I’d ask him to do is just keep this up right now, because he’s going to get plenty of chances in the first-team for Arsenal this year… I wouldn’t be worried about his place in the England squad. 

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