Nacho Monreal insists Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera is good enough to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid as he backed the Spain U21 international captain to step up and fill the void of injured talisman Gabriel Magalhaes.

Gabriel looks poised to miss Sunday's North London Derby against Tottenham with a thigh issue sustained in Brazil's 2-0 friendly victory over Senegal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend.

The 27-year-old is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks but in the view of Monreal, Mosquera has already proven he is worthy of the nod ahead of versatile duo Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori, respectively.

Monreal said via BetMGM: "It's a big miss because Gabriel is a very important player for Arsenal.

"Firstly, he's a great defender but he also scores a lot of goals from set-pieces.

"He's out, so probably in my opinion, Mosquera will play, only because when William Saliba was injured at the beginning of the season, Mosquera was the player who replaced Saliba.

"I think it's going to continue this way because when he played, Mosquera did well."

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Mosquera has started five matches in all competitions for Arsenal this season and has kept four clean sheets having mainly featured as a right-sided central defender.

Replacing Gabriel represents a different challenge, though Monreal is confident the 21-year-old is already vastly experienced from his time at the Mestalla.

The former left-back continued: "The most surprising thing about Mosquera is that I was checking his numbers and everything and he's still only 21!

"I was watching him play for Spain U21 on Tuesday, it feels like I've been watching him for four years and he's still just 21.

"Of course, he has the level to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid but if you see their squads, they probably also have top centre-backs.

"Arsenal had the chance to get him for €15million (£13million) and that's not a lot for a 21-year-old international.

"Why didn't Barcelona or Real Madrid sign him? Honestly, the truth is, I don't know but Arsenal did very well to get him for that price."

Left-back Calafiori is expected to be fit to face Tottenham despite missing Italy's final two World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway.

Ecuador captain Hincapie could easily slot in at centre-back over Mosquera though as he is left-footed like Gabriel.