Hector Bellerin desperate to leave Arsenal
By Tom Gott
Hector Bellerin has made it abundantly clear to Arsenal he will do whatever it takes to seal a move away from the Emirates this summer.
The Spaniard, who has two years remaining on his contract, slipped down the pecking order towards the end of last season and has been linked with an exit for a while now, with the likes of Inter, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all tipped to move for him.
As noted by The Athletic, Bellerin's desire to leave Arsenal has been clear for a while now and he is said to be growing extremely frustrated at what he believes is an unwillingness to sanction his departure.
He has told both manager Mikel Arteta and director Edu that he wants any reasonable offer for him to be considered, and he is so determined to leave the club that he is more than willing to take a pay cut to give him more options.
Thus far, Arsenal's unwillingness to lower their asking price has proven to be a real problem. Talks with Inter collapsed because of the Gunners' demands and no other suitor has been willing to come any closer to meeting them.
Inter wanted a loan with an option to buy, but were also prepared to agree to an obligation to sign Bellerin permanently if he made a certain number of appearances, but Arsenal were not interested in the uncertainty and wanted either a permanent sale or an undisputed obligation to buy.
With the situation now at risk of getting a little ugly, Arsenal are exploring some alternative ways of getting Bellerin out of the club, including some potential swap deals.
Exploratory talks have been held with Barcelona over a deal to swap Bellerin for 22-year-old Emerson Royal, and Arsenal have even tried their luck with Atletico for Englishman Kieran Trippier, although Los Rojiblancos' high asking price will likely leave that move dead in the water.
Bellerin's determination to leave the club stems from a desire to make it into Spain's World Cup squad for 2022. The 26-year-old has just four international caps to his name, three of which came around his debut in 2016.
He was brought back into Luis Enrique's squad in November 2020 but was dropped soon after, and Bellerin now wants to join a new club where he will have a better chance of playing and earning himself a recall.