A few weeks back, Arsenal fans might have been fearing the worst when the club entered talks with Hector Bellerin about a new deal.
Not only were there plenty of rumours that Pep Guardiola was sniffing around the 21-year-old (not literally) with a view to taking him to the Etihad, but there were also strong rumours that Barcelona quite fancied signing him too.
Bellerin, who was born in Barcelona and represented the Camp Nou club at youth level before making the move to Arsenal, was said to have been a target for Luis Enrique’s side, who don’t have much in the way of options at right back at this moment in time.
But on Monday afternoon came some good news for Arsenal supporters, with Bellerin appearing in a video tweeted by the club to confirm that he’d just inked a brand new deal to stay put at The Emirates.
We’ve got some good news for you… pic.twitter.com/paRlaG7bkQ
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 21, 2016
Said to be over £100,000 a week for the next six-and-a-half years, Bellerin made it clear that he was pleased to be sticking around.
“I’m really, really happy and this club is my home right now,” he told Arsenal Player. “I’ve been here for more than five years now so I was really, really excited when the club told me that they wanted to extend my contract.”
Despite this, it still wasn’t enough to convince many people that a future move to Catalonia was definitely not on the cards for Bellerin…
https://twitter.com/CaIumHogan/status/800729281848610816
Bellerin in a barca shirt is so sure…..this love he has for arsenal may change when Wenger leaves in a couple of years
— Dolapo (@Dolypizo) November 21, 2016
Bellerin bumping up his inevitable Barca contract #feederclub
— Skafroz1 (@skafroz1) November 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/Kyii_Bradly/status/800715778354016256
https://twitter.com/Joe_Crispin/status/800713155391459328
https://twitter.com/Rojobsessed/status/800712869285228545
Even some Arsenal fans were adopting the same point of view.
https://twitter.com/Muscielny/status/800711449383346176
However, for now, he remains a Gooner – and to celebrate that fact, the club have put together a special montage…
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