Hector Bellerin is either incredibly naive, which one would need to be naive to believe, or he’s happy to encourage Barcelona rumours. Tuesday’s edition of Mundo Deportivo, the slightly calmer of the two Catalan sport newspapers, has Bellerin on the front cover.
The headline is ‘Cumbre por Bellerin’, which means ‘Summit for Bellerin’.
Pages 2 and 3 of Tuesday’s Mundo Deportivo are also Bellerin focused, with a headline reading ‘Aceleron por Bellerin’, explaining that efforts to sign the Arsenal player are accelerating.
Pages 4 and 5 are a double page spread of an exclusive Mundo Deportivo interview with Bellerin. The headline quote the newspaper have plucked out is “This summer many things can happen.”
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Mundo Deportivo asked Bellerin why he lost his place in Arsenal’s side during the season, to which the right back said: “There was a change of system, I talked to the coach and he explained that with this new system he preferred to play with other players. As a footballer you have to take it and work hard to change his opinion. After injuries and other factors I had the opportunity to be able to return to the team, I worked to the upmost and I could finish the season as I wanted.”
Put to him that an Arsenal exit is a big topic, Bellerin said: “That’s what is being spoken about. You never know what can happen, but I have a contract in force and when I finish my holiday after the Europeans I will have to go back there.”
On a deadline to decide his future, the Arsenal player said: “I signed the new contract at Christmas, the contracts are in charge, although in football you never know what can happen.”
Asked if Arsenal’s failure to qualify for the Champions League is an influence on his future, Bellerin said: “The truth is that all players of the top level want to fight for the Champions League, especially when you’ve been fighting in it for two years. We as a team have not achieved the classification and it is something that we all want to fix, but as a player I repeat that it is an important competition.”
Straight out asked if he would like a Barcelona return, Bellerin said: “It’s something you don’t think about when you leave, because you don’t know how things are going to go. I was lucky enough to bet on Arsenal, things have gone well and now receiving this kind of news from Barça is something that makes me happy, but that does not just depend on me.”
Asked about his life in London, the fullback’s answer was quite revealing: “I have always been very good, my family settled there with me, although now for family matters they have had to return to Barcelona. Now I have a harder time, because I am a very family orientated person, I depend on them a lot, and it will be a new challenge to be without them.”
Asked if Maresme, where he grew up, is a better place to live than London, Bellerin said: “Of course. Not just for friends and family. The weather is also much better. But I adapt to what I have.”
On the summer and the pressure of potential Barcelona return: “A lot can happen this summer. For now I prefer to focus on the immediate, which is the European Under-21 and then what has to come, will come.
“I try to focus on my work, be focused on football and the other, when it comes, we’ll see.”
Asked about direct contact with Barcelona, Bellerin said: “No, I haven’t talked to anyone. I have not talked to the club, I know there are many things that are being talked about, but as a player the club has not told me anything, there has still been no contact”
Those answers are far more weighted to a Barcelona move than Bellerin used to give. Not so long ago the Arsenal player would slalom through Catalan press questioning, evading all their traps, and proving to be a very adept interviewee.
That’s why ‘he’s only answering questions’ doesn’t wash. Or at least one of the reasons. Bellerin is well aware of the Catalan media reports about him, and his attitude towards them has clearly changed.
This isn’t a new thing. Strangely, Bellerin’s approach to these interviews seemed to change not long after his Arsenal renewal.
Maybe he was stung by claims from Mundo Deportivo and others that Barcelona had closed the door on a possible future return, angered by Bellerin’s comments about not wanting to go back anyway, and his subsequent Arsenal renewal.
To ram it home a little further, Bellerin has also spoken to Sport, the more excitable Catalan newspaper. Also taking up the first five pages of their Tuesday newspaper, similar answers were given.
Asked if he feels talks on a Barcelona will open soon, Bellerin said: “It’s something I’m not aware of. I have a contract with Arsenal, but in football you never know what can happen.”
On Ernesto Valverde giving his approval to a transfer: “It’s a great compliment to hear this, I have always said so. It’s the club that I grew up at as a kid, the best club in the world and the interest fills me with joy. It’s a big compliment, yes, but I’m Arsenal player, with a contract there and other things are far from me.”
Arsenal and a new €140m offer for Kylian Mbappe, it isn’t quite all it seems. #AFC #PSG #ASM https://t.co/oSHgZQM6QA pic.twitter.com/oADKqAadgY
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) June 6, 2017
