Less than two weeks ago, Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo said Barcelona had shelved the Hector Bellerin transfer idea. For good.
There was still doubt around Aleix Vidal, with the former Sevilla player expected to leave Barcelona in one of the next two transfer windows. However, Sergi Roberto had shown he’s more than capable in the role, with his performances there getting him into the Spain squad.
Monday’s edition of another Catalan newspaper, Sport, features Hector Bellerin on the front page. He’s ‘the chosen one’ for Barcelona’s right-back recruitment idea and some kind of progress is expected on the possible transfer in the coming weeks.
Sport explain: ‘Just one month after the end of summer market and FC Barcelona already sets a clear goal for the immediate future: Héctor Bellerín.
Sport say that Robert, Barcelona’s current transfer guru, contacted Bellerin in May to talk about a possible transfer, but things didn’t really get anywhere.
That would somewhat back up claims from El Confidencial in June, which we covered at the time: ‘El Confidencial take a baseball bat on Tuesday to claims from Barcelona that they’re not interested in certain players, and are respecting their clubs. Barcelona’s transfer chief Robert Fernandez was quizzed recently on interest in several players including Hector Bellerin.
Fernandez played down the interest and said: “We always respect the club and the player.”
El Confidencial say this simply isn’t true, in the case of Bellerin and several others. It’s claimed that not only have Barcelona disrespected Arsenal by going behind their back and contacting the defender, but they also went behind the back of the player’s agent.’
The wish for Bellerin in Barcelona’s corridors of power is now said to be ‘unanimous’, but there’s no illusion a transfer would be easy.
Sport say that Barcelona need to wait for Bellerin to hopefully, from their perspective, reject a contract renewal. Then Arsenal should realise they have to sell him at the end of the season for a ‘reasonable price’.
Good.Luck.With.That.
Bellerin only signed a new contract last year, Arsenal are under little pressure to sell at a reasonable price if he dismisses a new renewal. If it’s a reasonable price that Barcelona are looking for then they’ll need to look elsewhere.
And, anyway, won’t Sergi Roberto again be seen as a right back God in a couple of weeks?
