Hector Bellerin appears to have nailed down a spot in Real Betis’ La Liga starting lineup, playing another 90 minutes in Monday’s win over Deportivo Alaves.

Hector Bellerin was one of a few members of the Arsenal senior squad to go on loan this summer, joining the likes of Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi, and Konstantinos Mavropanos in making a move to mainland Europe.

Unlike those three, Bellerin doesn’t have any kind of purchase clause in his Real Betis contract, so it’s arguably more important that he has a good season and plays regular football. The better he plays, the easier Arsenal’s task will be next summer.

At first, the 26-year-old was in and out of the team, only playing every other game for Betis. That’s not hugely surprising, given they have Europa League fixtures to rotate in.

But there was a little bit of concern ahead of the international break, with Bellerin making an error in Betis’ defeat to Villarreal. Fortunately, the right-back kept his place to play another 90 minutes in the following win over Deportivo Alaves.

Bellerin wasn’t directly involved in the 89th minute winner, but he was certainly part of the late push to get it, driving into the box and pushing the opposition defence back. He’s now played the full 90 of five of Betis’ last six league games.

Arsenal really haven’t had a huge amount of luck loaning to Spain in recent years.

Lucas Torreira (Atletico Madrid), Joel Campbell (Real Betis) and Emi Martinez (Getafe) spent the majority of their loans on the bench, making nine league starts in total – combined. Lucas Perez played regularly, but he was relegated with Deportivo La Coruna.

By comparison to that, the Bellerin loan is already going very well.