Nacho Monreal Confident Arsenal Can Settle Laurent Koscielny Dispute

Nacho Monreal believes Laurent Koscielny and Arsenal can resolve their dispute and still have a future at the club.  

The Frenchman has refused to travel with the Gunners squad for their pre-season tour of the United States, a move the club made clear in a statement that went "against our clear instructions."

Per Sky Sports, Koscielny is now facing disciplinary action, and he reportedly wants to return home to France on a free transfer despite having a year remaining on his Arsenal contract:

His future at the Emirates Stadium looks to be in significant jeopardy.

But Monreal believes the 33-year-old can resolve his issues with the club and be welcomed back into the fold, per Sky Sports:

"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?"

Arsenal fans will hope Koscielny can reconcile with the club, given they are already short of options at the back.

Since joining the club from Lorient back in 2010, he has been one of the Gunners' most consistent performers.

The defence is Arsenal's most obvious weakness. They conceded 51 goals last season in the Premier League and finished fifth.

Players like Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos are unreliable and prone to mistakes.

That is not so much the case with Koscielny, who also adds necessary leadership and experience to the Arsenal squad.

He is no longer at his peak, and Arsenal need to build a defence for the future that does not include him.

But Koscielny could still be a major asset in the final year of his contract, and it would be in Arsenal's interests to try to keep him at the club.