Almost six months after Hector Bellerin was linked with a £40m move to Barcelona, we look at whether insisting he stayed at Arsenal was such a good idea after all.
Should Arsenal have cashed in?
Barca retreated, insisting they didn’t want him anyway, and Bellerin ‘settled’ back into the Arsenal starting XI.
Barcelona don't want Bellerin. It's not only about money, say Sport, he 'does not meet all the physical and technical conditions'. #AFC #FCB
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) July 12, 2017
However, he never really ‘settled’ and his dip in form, which reached a low against Southampton, can be traced all the way back to last March.
The whole team was playing terribly but there was a reason it was the Spaniard that was booed off the pitch after our 3-0 loss at Selhurst Park.
This was around the same time as Bellerin returned from a recurring ankle injury and, to be quite honest, apart from the odd game, he’s not looked fully fit since.
He doesn’t utilise his blistering pace the way he used to and his crossing, which even he joked about needing to work on, seems worse than ever.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWiNO56Avpl/?hl=en&taken-by=hectorbellerin
With this in mind, should Arsenal have bitten Barca’s hand off when they offered £40m for the 22-year-old?
My answer is still no.
First of all, I never want us to sell one of our first team players to that club ever again, no matter how much money they offer.
Secondly, although Bellerin does seem off the pace, he’s still young and has shown what he can do. That’s still in him and I’m sure he’ll find it again.
Lastly, from a practical point of view, how many right-backs are there at the moment who are young, available and worth spending money on?
How many could replace an in-form Bellerin? Or an out-of-form one, for that matter?
Bellerin’s still a defender in demand with Juventus the latest club to be linked with a move for him, and, at the moment, he wears red and white.
I’m glad we kept it that way.
How much longer it stays that way, is anyone’s guess.