Arsène Wenger happy with Nacho Monreal’s Arsenal debut

Nacho Monreal joined Arsenal on Thursday Photo: Back Page Images

Arsène Wenger hailed Nacho Monreal’s “good start” to his Arsenal career after the Spaniard was thrown straight into the starting line-up for Saturday’s win over Stoke.

The 26-year-old left-back completed a deadline-day move to the Emirates from Malaga following news of Kieran Gibbs’ four to six week injury lay-off.

After a battling display from Tony Pulis’ men, a deflected Lukas Podolski free-kick handed the Gunners a 1-0 win in north London.

And Wenger singled out Monreal for special praise after the win.

“The satisfaction is that Nacho Monreal had a good start for a player who just arrived yesterday and is in the team today,” said the Arsenal boss.

“He did not have time to think about it, but he got stronger and stronger during the game.

“There is no better culture shock than Stoke when you come from Spain. They had a very physical game and I think he dealt well with it.”

Arsenal’s next game is a Premier League trip to Sunderland on Saturday.