Done deal: Player commits to Arsenal in £14.6million agreement

By Arsenal correspondent Tony Hughes| Premier League expert with experience of breaking big stories, including exclusives like this

Nacho Monreal has committed his future to Arsenal by signing a new contract worth £14.6million, Football Insider sources understand.

The Spain international has been handed a £20,000-a-week pay rise as part of the new agreement, which will lift him into the £80,000-a-week bracket.

Football Insider revealed last year that Monreal had agreed a new deal to replace his current £60,000-a-week deal, which began in January 2013 and runs until 2017.  It is understood he signed the agreement before Christmas although there has been no announcement from the club.

The new contract runs over three-and-a-half years and until 2019, which means it is worth an extra £2million to the 29-year-old.

Gunners sources had told Football Insider in August that Arsenal were set to offer Monreal a new contract to ward off interest from Athletic Bilbao.

The Spanish club were interested in paying around £7million to prise the 29-year-old from Emirates Stadium.

But Arsene Wenger does not want to lose Monreal and sanctioned a new contract for the £8million signing from Malaga.

Monreal has been Arsenal's undisputed first choice left-back over the last 12 months after displacing Kieran Gibbs in the second half of last season.

The Spaniard was a key figure in the team's renaissance which ended with an FA Cup triumph and a third-placed Premier League finish, and has extended that form this season as Arsenal challenge for the title.

He is regarded by the Arsenal coaching staff as a more reliable defender than Gibbs and has been given the nod over his English rival to start most of the Gunners' matches this season.