To be honest, we thought we were past all of this.
Once again Arsene Wenger has managed to unearth a diamond in the rough and turn him into one of Europe’s most promising youngsters. A kid none of us had ever heard of before stepped out onto the pitch at the Emirates Stadium has become a serious force to be reckoned with, and so he starts making eyes at one of Arsenal’s domestic rivals.
We saw it first with Emmanuel Adebayor taking up and leaving the Emirates in his prime for Manchester City before Samir Nasri established himself as a key player in the Arsenal midfield before sodding off the Etihad aged 24, taking Gael Clichy with him.
Robin van Persie then cashed in on his one good full season with the Gunners by joining up with Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and then Bacary Sagna abandoned Wenger and co for a free transfer to City.
Although Arsenal fans were hurt by the Frenchman’s departure fans were pleased that the club moved swiftly to replace him with a potentially better player in Mathieu Debuchy. And even though the former Newcastle man went down early in his Arsenal career, there was a silver lining – the emergence of a young speedster named Hector Bellerin at right back.
The Spaniard has since been recognised as the top right back in the Premier League, being named in last season’s team of the year. And though Arsenal fans do love him, they had come to terms with the fact that the 21-year-old will likely follow in the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas and return to Barcelona.
After Dani Alves left the Spanish champions, many expected them to make a move for Bellerin. But what they didn’t foresee was for the Catalan to abandon them for a Premier League rival.
According to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, Bellerin is happy at Arsenal *but* he is considering linking up with Barcelona legend Pep Guardiola at Man City.
“He is happy at Arsenal,” a source supposedly close to the defender reportedly said. “But the option of City exists, it pleases him and what’s more, Pep [Guardiola] is there.”
While it’s nothing concrete yet, Arsenal fans have been burned too many times to trust again so easily.
