Hector Bellerin has been speaking about why he wanted to play for Real Betis but wouldn’t be drawn on if he wants to stay there more than one season.

Arsenal had been expected to sell Hector Bellerin this season as both parties decided it was time for them to go their separate ways. Arsenal, however, were unable to find a buyer willing to pay a fair market price so they had to settle on sending Bellerin on loan to his boyhood club, Real Betis.

“Two weeks before the end of the market it seemed complicated, but it became a reality. Football is not just money, sentiment is very important,” Bellerin told ABC Sevilla.

“For me, having the opportunity to be here is where I want to be. I face the challenge with great enthusiasm and football does not only depend on the player. I will live from day to day.”

So why did he want to play for Real Betis so much in the first place? “It is a feeling that my father has instilled since I was little. As a child I was a bit of a turncoat, but he forced me to wear the Betis shirt. Being able to make my father happy with a dream that is his, and fulfilling it for him makes me very excited,” Bellerín explained.

Bellerin was then asked if he would like to stay with Real Betis beyond this season and he replied, “What there is, is what there is, let’s see how everything goes. To enjoy, football, training and the city.”

Speaking to the press before Arsenal’s showdown against Norwich City in the Premier League, Mikel Arteta was asked about the club’s transfer business this summer.

The topic of players leaving naturally came up and Hector Bellerin’s name was top of that list.

So why did the right-back want to leave?

“To find someone like Hector is not easy, he’s been raised here with us and is loved by everyone at the football club,” Arteta said.

Bellerin is under contract with Arsenal until 2023.