PSG’s Hector Bellerin Interest – Time to Cash in?

Hector Bellerin has seen his stock slump at the club over the last few months. With funds tight, is it time to cash in?

Over the next few weeks we can expect to see a flurry of activity at Arsenal with Mikel Arteta looking to trim the squad down and move on some of the deadwood. Now, Hector Bellerin certainly wouldn’t fall into the category of what we would call deadwood, but he has seen his career take a dip at the club over the last 18 months due to form and injuries, and now at the age of 25, perhaps it is a good time to cut our losses.

Despite his stock not being as high as it was previously, he is one of our most marketable assets and we could easily ask for a fee of around £35-40m without feeling like we are ripping the buyer off (not that we’d care), and you would feel that we would have to sell a player who we like to fund the transfers that we really want.

The Spaniard is linked with a move to Europe nigh-on every transfer window, but this time around, (via The Athletic) Paris Saint-Germain are cementing their interest with a £25m bid en route across the English Channel. It’s thought Arsenal don’t want to sell – not at that price, anyway – but realise that this money could do wonders for future investments.

I remember being quite literally blown away when I saw Hector Bellerin for the first time in a pre-season friendly six years ago, he had phenomenal pace, was mature for his age and looked fearless. I remember thinking ‘this guy is going to be a big player for us’. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone the way we had hoped and after six seasons in the first team I cant think of any real significant strengths that Bellerin offers to the team.

In fact, he’s more known for his fashionista lifestyle and veganism nowadays rather than anything he has done in an Arsenal shirt. He is still capable of producing the odd moment of brilliance and you only have to remember his powerful run through the Chelsea midfield that led to the winner in the FA Cup final last month. Sadly, these moments of brilliance are few and far between, and you can always count on him to suffer from a lack of concentration at the other end of the pitch.

A lot of this isn’t his fault, however, as he has been unlucky with injuries and confidence, while Arsenal fans are not always the most patient or forgiving group with certain players, and Bellerin is definitely on the list of players who splits opinion. A decent chunk of the fans would be happy to see him leave.

No Room for Sentiment at Arsenal

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On paper, Bellerin seems like the perfect player to lead the Arteta revolution forward. He genuinely loves the club and came up through the youth ranks so he knows our values and our history, not to mention a certain leadership quality about him. He is, by all accounts, a fully fledged Londoner.

In my opinion, however, his lack of star quality and ability outweighs all of that. Bellerin was a key player for us during this era but as we turn to page onto a new chapter, we need to be looking at better. For me, Bellerin isn’t that.

Selling the 25-year-old this summer would leave us short at right-back, as Cedric simply isn’t good enough to be a regular. In the event of Bellerin’s departure a replacement will be 100% required. There is every possibility that Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be staying at the club after his performance in the Community Shield on Saturday, so you would expect Arteta to move him into that position which may make Bellerin’s departure a little easier to stomach for some fans.

We may, however, have to bite the bullet with Cedric as our starting option next season as a full-back doesn’t appear high on Arteta’s list of priorities. It’s clear he’s moving on players to fund moves for his main targets – Thomas Partey and, possibly, Houssem Aouar.

It’s a transfer that is likely going to be debated over the coming weeks and I’m certain there will  be many fans who aren’t happy with the decision to sell, but with funds tight this summer and with Arsenal not looking to fall further behind our rivals, sacrifices have to be made. No room for sentiment.

At the age of 25, Bellerin is nearing the peak of his career with no considerable progress shown, so, in my opinion, now would be a good time to cash in.