He was an essential part of the squad in the 1998–99 season, and his winning penalty handed Nantes the Coupe de France title in 1999.

[1] He also scored the winning goal in the 1999 Trophée des Champions[2] and played as a substitute when Nantes won the 2000 Coupe de France Final.

Despite having a quiet start to his spell at the club, he became one of their key players, establishing a deadly partnership with Swiss striker Alexander Frei.

In the last few hours of the January 2007 transfer window, Monterrubio signed for RC Lens as a replacement for Olivier Thomert, who moved in the opposite direction.

He struck up a strong partnership with Nadir Belhadj upon the Algerian left-back's arrival at the club in January 2008, but the team were relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of the season despite Monterrubio's fine form.