Arsenal: You have to do the Hector Bellerin return right

Hector Bellerin will be back at Arsenal soon, but you have to manage his return right or the repercussions could be damaging.

I can’t even begin to count how many times Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been compared to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in regards to the transformation he’s undergone at Arsenal. It’s such an easy comparison to make. A young winger with midfield aspirations becomes a rightback.

Ox jumped ship before he could complete the transformation though, and that’s the big difference. Maitland-Niles claimed his spot as a wingback and has turned into an apt defender that can hold his own at rightback.

It timed perfectly with the long-term absence of Hector Bellerin, who missed out on a huge chunk of last year, though is expected to be back with the club sooner rather than later. And while this is quite exciting, it has to be managed properly because, well, let’s just say I don’t want to see Maitland-Niles compared to the Ox again.

Maitland-Niles asserted last year that he was the rightback now, and that Bellerin could come try to take the job if he wanted.

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It was a challenge, plain and simple. The kind of challenge that pumps up both parties. But it also laid down a line. Maitland-Niles saw himself as the rightful position owner, and if he was going to lose the job, it was going to have to be done fair and square.

After what happened with Calum Chambers, I wonder how fair and square Unai Emery intends to play Bellerin’s return. Because needless to say, when Bellerin gets back, he is going to want to get back. And to be fair, he was tremendous when healthy last year, it was just keeping him on the pitch. So he never really lost the job, Maitland-Niles just claimed it.

But Chambers earned the job and never lost it, yet he’s the one sitting on the bench every week.

It’s not going to be easy to manage, but on the bright side, midweek matches are going to be popping up soon, allowing for enough game time for both. That said, moving Maitland-Niles to a midweek guy would be taken as a clear demotion and that’s not always a good way to hold a young player’s trust.

It’ll be curious to see what Unai Emery does. Honestly, Maitland-Niles should keep the job until he loses it, but then again, I am dying to see Bellerin (and Kieran Tierney) on the pitch, so…