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Arsenal are reportedly entertaining the idea of selling one of their longest-serving players, Hector Bellerin, with reports emerging that Paris St-Germain and Barcelona are interested parties.
The news has undoubtedly upset plenty of Arsenal fans, who would loathe seeing a beloved player in another shirt, albeit in a different league. Of course, there are those who will consider the deal good business, but there are plenty of arguments to be made against selling Bellerin.
Here are 5 reasons why Arsenal would be making a terrible mistake by letting their Spanish fullback leave:
#5 Bellerin is still an amazing player
It's fair to say Hector Bellerin has not had the best form over the last couple of seasons. The Spaniard has looked a far cry from the player who broke out with such aplomb under Arsene Wenger that Mathieu Debuchy's Arsenal career evaporated in the blink of an eye.
However, there have been mitigating circumstances - Bellerin has had to cope with a major ACL injury and was straight away thrust back into action as Arsenal (and Bellerin) struggled under Unai Emery's less than obvious instructions. However, the Spaniard has looked much like his old self following the COVID break, as he seems more in tune with the demands placed on him by Mikel Arteta.
This is still a player coveted by top clubs and there is not much doubt about his quality. Bellerin still has glimpses of explosive speed and his positional sense has only improved with experience. These are qualities that Arteta's Arsenal could do with, and a reason why it would be foolish to let him go.
#4 The numbers do not make sense
If the rumours are correct, Paris St-Germain are willing to offer Arsenal an eventual fee of €35 million, in a deal structured as a loan with an obligation to buy.
Putting aside the fact that Bellerin is worth much more than €35 million, the entire point of Arsenal being open to a sale is to raise money now, so as to fund purchases of Houssem Aouar and Thomas Partey. There would be no benefit to allowing Bellerin to leave on loan, no matter the price PSG offer.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have reportedly valued Bellerin at €20 to €25 million, a fee perhaps keeping in mind Bellerin's La Masia past and Catalan roots. Given Nelson Semedo's disastrous performance against Bayern Munich, Arsenal would be well within their rights to ask for double the fee for a first-team player who's contracted with them for quite a while.
#3 Social activism and leadership
For those who are of the opinion that footballers should just 'shut up and play', Hector Bellerin is the absolute antithesis of their ideology. Throughout his career, Bellerin has stuck his neck out for worthy social causes - right from his public endorsement of veganism to support for racial and social equality.
The Spaniard has faced brickbats for his outspoken stances, but has not shied away - he's grown to become 'More than a Footballer' (also the title of a podcast that he hosts).
Right from his investment in Forest Green Rovers to his much-ridiculed pledge to plant 3000 trees for every Arsenal win post the COVID-19 break, Hector Bellerin is a player that fans are proud to have represent their club.
He's a player that has worn the armband with pride, and, as a leader in the dressing room, was instrumental in uniting the Arsenal players to agree to a pay-cut and back Mikel Arteta.
These are attributes that cannot be bought.
#2 His replacements are not better
While plenty of Arsenal fans were quite impressed with the manner in which Ainsley Maitland-Niles performed in Arsenal's pivotal games against Liverpool, Man City, and Chelsea, what's gone under the radar is that the player was given a very strict, and limited, job to do - mark his opponent.
There are those who feel that these performances over 270 minutes of football ought to outweigh seasons of consistency from Hector Bellerin. They are wrong.
Maitland-Niles may very well push on from here, but in a league where squad depth is paramount, letting Bellerin leave to shoehorn the English youngster into the side seems short-sighted.
Instead, Arsenal fans would do well to question their club giving a 29-year-old Cédric Soares a four-year deal.
#1 Arsenal through and through
3360 days, or 9 years, 2 months and 10 days - that is how long Hector Bellerin has been with Arsenal ever since leaving all that he knew at La Masia to join Arsene Wenger's team on July 1, 2011. What's more interesting is that Bellerin turned down a return to Barcelona when he broke into the Arsenal first team.
The lad had become a Londoner by then. He still is, and in a world where fans have to increasingly make peace with the mercenary-like aspects of their players, it's rare to have 'one of our own' and even more imperative to keep them as such.
Arsenal's kit launch for the 19/20 season called upon the idea of London as home, with stars like Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Alexandre Lacazette all having their spoken lines dubbed with a London accent. The only player who didn't need his lines dubbed? Hector Bellerin.
In his own words, "What can I say man? North London is home."
