Arsenal: Hector Bellerin better have something to prove

Arsenal invested a lot in Hector Bellerin and gave him free reign over his position, but now things are different. He returns next year with something to prove.

Hector Bellerin has not been impressive this year. Not at all. His brief flashes of what he could be have contrasted drastically with what he consistently is. However, with how much Arsenal have invested in him, there has been no ready alternative. Mathieu Debuchy rode off to successfully conquer Ligue 1 and, since then, it’s been a steady supply of ‘when is Bellerin going to find himself.’

It got to the point that I, among others, wondered if selling him wasn’t the best course of action. After all, why hold onto someone ineffective when their potential still puts their value so much higher than what they are worth on the pitch?

That said, Bellerin has been putting in some fantastic work in recent matches. Not just that, but he has also made it clear that not only does he want to stay at Arsenal over the summer, but he’s also looking for a new number, which assumedly hints that he wants to potentially stay longer.

That’s well and good. No one is going to take away from the mass of potential that Bellerin has. But he needs to find himself again and get past this slump of his. Which may already be underway, with the announcement that Arsene Wenger is leaving.

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One of the problems with Wenger’s prolonged stay was that players got too comfortable with the steady presence at the top. It’s only natural.

Players like Bellerin and Alex Iwobi were such players who seemed to be taking to this comfort as an excuse to not push themselves to improve. Again, not on purpose, it’s natural to slack a bit when you’re not being pushed to achieve your best.

Iwobi aside, Bellerin undoubtedly has some of the greatest potential in the world of football, and while this year has not been his finest, he has to look at next year as a chance to prove himself again, because that is essentially what it is. Without Wenger there to protect him, substandard performances won’t be tolerated. He will be challenged, pushed and, if necessary, replaced.

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The good news is that Bellerin clearly has the talent necessary to rise to the occasion and prove himself. So now it’s just a matter of treating this as a challenge and accepting it, rather than trying to coast, which doesn’t seem like an option anymore.

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