Arsenal one of four teams to show interest in left-back this summer – and why a move didn’t happen

Girona left-back Miguel Gutierrez was undoubtedly one of the finest in the division last season and it was no surprise that he attracted significant interest from other teams during the summer. If anything, it was more of a pleasant surprise that Girona managed to hang onto him.

Gutierrez, 23, not only scored a brace against Barcelona and provided 9 assists last year, but went on to also play an important role for Spain at the Olympics, as they took home a gold medal. At the beginning of the summer, he was heavily linked with an exit, and Matteo Moretto has revealed that Bologna made an offer for him.

However Gutierrez was not 100% convinced on a move to Bologna, and decided he was better off continuing his growth at Girona this year, where he will also be a Champions League starter. Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen all expressed an interest in Gutierrez too, but none got as far as making an offer.

Real Madrid also possess an €8m buyback option on Gutierrez, or a 50% sell-on clause, which will likely see them make a profit at some point. They are unlikely to bring him back to play though, with Ferland Mendy and Fran Garcia already there, and Alphonso Davies set to come in next summer.