Arsenal: Hector Bellerin Doubts Prove Arsene Wenger’s Importance

Hector Bellerin would reportedly be more inclined to leave if Arsene Wenger also leaves in the summer, proving the importance of the Frenchman to Arsenal.

The future of Arsene Wenger is a decision that is hanging over Arsenal football. As is expected, the plans of a man who has shaped and moulded the club into his image during a 20-year tenure have huge and long-lasting ramifications on the future direction of the organisation.

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For the Gunners and their manager, that time is arriving every time his contract dwindles down. Wenger currently has a deal that sees him remain at the Emirates to the end of this season. After that, uncertainty and doubt await for both the Frenchman and the team that he has inspired to such success.

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Given the influence that he holds, both at a board level and within the dressing room, there are many eventualities that will or will not take place depending on his future. The continued development of the academy, the considered spending in the transfer window and the futures of many of the established members of the squad are all issues that will be resolved as Wenger resolves his own.

Recent reports state that Hector Bellerin would consider an exit in the summer if Wenger were indeed to depart. Bellerin is the stereotypical Wenger acquisition. Young and talented, but in need of some fine-tuning, Bellerin was honed, nurtured, directed throughout his time in North London, eventually seeing him develop into an accomplished, well-regarded young full-back.

It is no surprise that a player who has received so much from Wenger’s management would doubt his future at a club in which the man who shaped his enjoyment no longer patrolled the sidelines. Could you blame Bellerin for wanting to leave if Wenger also left in the summer? It would be a harsh stance to take.

Perhaps, then, the reports of Bellerin’s potential unhappiness portray the importance and the influence of Wenger, not the grumpiness of the man who would want to leave. Wenger has, like it or not, had a positive impact on Arsenal football club and many of his players. He is revered and respected, heralded as a great man before being a great manager.

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This may well be Wenger’s last season in North London. Certainly, if it isn’t, there won’t be too many more. And if Arsenal want continued success beyond his departure, reassuring players who have felt the full force of Wenger’s leadership, a la Bellerin, will be a task of paramount importance.