Barcelona are reportedly planning on using the same ‘strategy’, with Hector Bellerin as they did to sign Cesc Fabregas back in 2011.
- Hector Bellerin in talks with Barcelona over potential move
- Spanish press get excited about Bellerin comments
- Barcelona offer three players as a makeweight for Bellerin deal
- Catalans to give Bellerin the Fabregas treatment
When Cesc finally signed for his boyhood club Barcelona in 2011, it wasn’t a surprise.
The Catalans had been working the Spaniard over for years. Lots of talk about Barca DNA, feeding stories to the media, putting in insufficient bids that they knew would be rejected – all in an attempt to unsettle the star.
They weren’t going to spend a huge amount of money on the playmaker so if they could rattle both him and Arsenal enough that he could either run down his contract or force a move, they could have him.
And they eventually did.
This is reportedly how they plan on securing the signature of Bellerin, who’s been heavily linked with a move to the La Liga giants this summer despite the 22-year-old only signing a new six-year deal at the end of 2016.
Already, Spanish journalists are cherry-picking quotes from interviews, new stories about the right-back leaving Arsenal are cropping up everyday, and Barca are allegedly readying a €25m (£21.7m) bid, which they know will be rejected.
With Bellerin set to travel to Poland with Spain this month for the Under-21 European Championship, I’d say he’s one step away from having a Barcelona shirt forced over his head.