Hector Bellerin is loving his life at the minute.

First-choice at the club due to Mathieu Debuchy’s ‘black season’ he’s under no illusion that the Frenchman’s misfortune has been a large part of the reason he has made the starting lineup so often this season – but he has no intentions of giving up his shirt without a fight.

“There always has to be a transition between older players and the younger players,” Bellerin said. “We are lucky in this club, we young players get the opportunities and it is important when you get them that you need to take them.

“That is the way to get a place in the team and I am just really happy to be getting my minutes.

“In the end, the chances always come through injuries, which is not a nice thing. Now we are going to have Debuchy back and I am happy for him. But when you get your chance, you need to do the best you can.

“I am happy that now after not so good performances in the beginning, that the coach has still put confidence in me and giving me minutes. I have done my best to take this opportunity.”

Linked with a return to Barcelona, the Spaniard has been quite clear that his goal in life was to become a footballer not a Barcelona player and despite the attempts of a number of tabloids to spin it so it looked like he said he wanted a return to the Catalan side, all he actually said was the generic ‘anything can happen’.

With Debuchy closing in on a return to the first team it will certainly be interesting to see who Arsene Wenger turns to for the run-in. It’s hard to argue against the merits of both players – Bellerin for his performances and Debuchy for his experience.

Still, it’s an excellent problem to have.