Hector Bellerin has no regrets about leaving Barcelona when he was just 16-years-old.
The fullback, who is enjoyed a breakout season in 14/15 which has landed him an extended deal with the Gunners, made the leap in 2012 along with teammate Jon Toral.
Since their arrival at Arsenal the players have suffered vastly differing fortunes.
Toral has struggled with a series of knee problems due to an hereditary condition which, thankfully, seems to have finally been rectified after a number of operations.
Hector, on the otherhand, has benefited from the injuries which have plagued Mathieu Debuchy since his summer arrival.
Receiving a call-up to the Spanish u21 side during this international break, Hector has been speaking to the press in his home country about his decision to leave Barcelona and sign for Arsenal.
“I got the chance and I took it”, he told Marca. “Wherever you are, you have to work. If I’d stayed at Barcelona, I don’t know if I’d have made it to the elite, you just never know.
“I’ve worked as hard as I could and always had the mentality of reaching the top. Whether I was in one place or another, I’d have done the same.
“There are players who like to stay home. It’s nice to play at home and have everything where you grew up, but sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone and seek new challenges.”
Over the weekend we saw an increase in the speculation linking Hector with a return to Barcelona, or, rather, reports claiming that the Spanish side were eyeing him up as a potential replacement for Dani Alves.
Given he has just agreed a new deal to keep him at Arsenal until 2019, I wouldn’t be too worried about that.