Santi Cazorla praised Hector Bellerin’s performance during Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Swansea on Saturday and admitted that the club need to keep hold of him.

Bellerin has been at the centre of a lot of media speculation recently. Will he stay at Arsenal, which Arsene Wenger believes he will, or will he go to Barcelona or Manchester City?

Speaking after our win over the Swans in the Premier League, Cazorla said in no uncertain terms that we simply have to keep hold of the 21-year-old.

“We’ll see [what happens with Hector],” Santi said to IBTimes.

“It is clear that Hector is the right-back of the future.

“You could see in the victory over Swansea how good he is. He was all over the place and never stopped running. For Arsenal it would be a mistake to let him go. It is obvious that many teams want him. There has been talk about Manchester City and Barcelona.

“He is a player with great potential and I am sure he will also be a key part of the future of the Spanish national team.”

Bellerin was indeed once again superb against Swansea and we’d miss his massively if he left.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 15: Theo Walcott of Arsenal (R) celebrates scoring his sides first goal with team mate Hector Bellerin of Arsenal (L) during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Swansea City at Emirates Stadium on October 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Theo Walcott of Arsenal (R) celebrates scoring his sides first goal with team mate Hector Bellerin of Arsenal (L) during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Swansea City at Emirates Stadium on October 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Thankfully, despite reports, Bellerin has given no indication that he wants to leave Arsenal. Combine this with the fact we have the boss claiming that the right-back’s future is with us and it’s looking pretty likely that he’ll sign a new contract. At least, we hope so.

As both Cazorla and Wenger said, his future is – or at least should be – in north London.