'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#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."
