Mikel Arteta played down speculation about Hector Bellerin leaving Arsenal.
Speaking to a pre-match press conference on Friday, the Arsenal manager refused to be drawn too much on the Spaniard’s future in North London.
It has been reported that the Gunners will be offloading the 26-year-old defender this summer.
But when asked about Bellerin’s future, Arteta reminded the media that he is contracted to the Emirates Stadium club and there was no indication that there was a plan to sell.
But Goal.com reporter Charles Watt has claimed on his YouTube channel that the Spanish coach’s comments should be taken with a pinch of salt, revealing that ‘everybody is in agreement’ at Arsenal that the player’s future lies away from the Premier League club.
He told his YouTube channel: “People will look at that [Arteta’s comments] and think ‘Oh Hector’s definitely staying’ but I wouldn’t go that far. There’s conversations to be had. Everybody’s in agreement that this might well be Hector Bellerin’s last season at Arsenal. Again, it depends on a few things like what interested clubs there are.”
The future has been on the wall for Bellerin for a couple of months now.
The Barcelona youth, who is injured and won’t feature in Arsenal’s last game of the season against Brighton on Sunday, has been usurped by Calum Chambers in that right-back slot and that is a horrible indictment for Arteta’s intentions.
This is a player who Arteta clearly is not planning to keep in North London and it would be a major surprise if he was retained by the club.
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