La Liga outfit Real Betis have not yet held talks with Arsenal over a permanent deal for Premier League forgotten man Hector Bellerin, sporting director Antonio Cordon tells ABC de Sevilla.
Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar have completely overhauled this Arsenal squad in recent windows, dumping overpaid, underperforming players such as Mesut Ozil, Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi and replacing them with talented young bucks.
It could be more of the same this summer too.
Alexandre Lacazette’s contract will expire in July, with former club Lyon desperate to re-sign their former captain on a free transfer. Mohamed Elneny, Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka, Eddie Nketiah, Bernd Leno and Ainsley Maitland-Niles could also depart.
So to Bellerin.
Has Hector Bellerin played his final game for Arsenal?
A man who’s been part of the Arsenal set-up for so long his Catalan accent now has a Cockney twang, Bellerin could finally bring an end to over a decade in North London this summer.
The Barcelona-born right-back was loaned out to boyhood club Real Betis last year. And, if the Andalusians want to turn his loan deal into a permanent transfer to the tune of £15 million, it seems unlikely that anyone at the Emirates will stand in his way (The Sun).
According to Betis’ sporting director, however, negotiations over a full-time transfer have not yet taken place. That could soon change, though.
“With Arsenal, we are not yet negotiating nor have we talked about the future,” says Cordon. “We have to wait to see how the season ends.”
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Inspired by the mercurial Nabil Fekir and Sergio Canales, Manuel Pellegrini’s talented Betis side are currently fifth in the La Liga table. Bellerin has started 19 times, as los Verdiblancos look to qualify for the Champions League group-stages for the first time since the 2005/06 season.
His place at Arsenal, meanwhile, has been taken by the disciplined Takehiro Tomiyasu.
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