Stuart Brennan, writing in the Manchester Evening News, believes that it is Hector Bellerin’s ‘destiny’ to head north to join Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta, and Bacary Sagna at Manchester City.

In what reads as nothing more than a piece of City-drenched PR aimed at getting a message through to Bellerin that Arsenal are ‘the blue stilton’ of the Premier League, a club with a ‘hint of decay,’ whereas City are a far superior option for the Spaniard, it’s not even subtle.

City made an enquiry for Bellerin during the summer and were told where to go. If the reports in the media are to be believed, they will try again in January.

This should surprise no-one.

This is, after all, a club managed by the man who was in charge when Barcelona waged war on Arsenal in the press in a bid to sign Cesc Fabregas, a player they immediately lost interest in the minute the ink dried on his contract.

Hector Bellerin has made it perfectly clear that he is happy at Arsenal but any player can have his head turned, especially if the pressure is relentless enough.

Brennan runs through all the players who have left Arsenal for City, and the trophies they’ve won. He slates Arsenal for failing to win the league in the last 12 years, claiming at City ‘the premise is to win stuff, and then move on to win bigger stuff,’ without making any mention of Arsenal having to pay for their own stadium while City were given theirs for next to nothing.

There’s no mention of sugar daddies either.

It is a piece full of poorly-veiled digs as the writer arrogantly dismisses Arsenal, a club he clearly sees as inferior to one that had to spend billions to achieve the sort of success the Gunners found with regularity until they decided to spend a decade building a stadium and securing their future.

To read Brennan, you’d think City had spent that decade winning the league every year instead of just twice, to take their grand tally to a paltry four.

Arsenal, for the record, have 13 and Arsene Wenger has three all by himself.

He’s also won six FA Cups. Manchester City have won five in 122 years.

Whether Brennan is an unwitting puppet of Guardiola and City or a complicit one, one thing is clear – Arsenal fans best brace themselves for a transfer war as this one isn’t going to stop until either Bellerin leaves Arsenal or Guardiola leaves City.

If I had to bet on which one would happen first, my money would be on the latter.