Hector Bellerin departed Arsenal on loan in 2021 and many thought this would be the last anyone in red and white would see of him. A swift summer sale and both the club and player would simply move on without each other.
Yet, this has not been the case. Bellerin has returned and already captained Arsenal in a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly win over Ipswich. He was the longest-serving player in the group and so the armband made sense. However, his presence really didn’t.
The explanation though for why he is still at the club is a simple one. Bellerin has had one club on his mind since the end of the last season and it has not wavered.
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Real Betis and Bellerin struck up a strong relationship that brought the Spaniard to tears as he left the field after the final appearance of last season. Perhaps the Arsenal youth graduate knew the challenges he would face in trying to return.
And it has been a return to Betis that so far has proven unsuccessful, mostly due to the Verdiblancos' poor financial situation. It is not as if the club have been without interest or even offers for the 27-year-old.
Roma and Atletico Madrid have shown an interest and Bellerin has even received a reported proposal from Unai Emery’s Villarreal. The two Spaniards worked well together when Emery was head coach in north London, however this was not enough, even with the Yellow Submarine willing to cover his full salary, to convince him to turn away from his Betis dream.
Arsenal feel they can get a transfer fee for Bellerin and are holding out for a fair valuation. Betis though are hamstrung and look very unlikely to offer anything close to what the Gunners want, even with Bellerin willing to drop his wages to make the move.
With a year left on his deal, a growing reality is that Bellerin stays with Arsenal to see out the final year of his contract. He’s willing to train and even play as has been shown in this early portion of the pre-season and another option at full-back won’t be an unwelcome sight for Mikel Arteta.
However, when looking into his statistics in comparison to Cedric from last season, whereby Bellerin was able to flourish in a Betis side performing well inside the top half of La Liga, he cannot touch the Portuguese’s numbers.
Cedric scored better in pass completion (78.7% > 76.4%) progressive distance of passes (288.1y > 248.1y) completed crosses into the box (0.85 > 0.14) tackles won (1.21 > 0.86) pressures (11.8 > 10.1) pressure success rate (35.1% > 29.3%) progressive distance dribbled (207.4 > 153.8) and dribble success rate (63.6% > 54.3%). These were all recorded and averaged per 90 minutes, according to FBRef.
Therefore, in an environment where Bellerin was clearly happy and wants to return he was not recording figures that matched that of the second-choice Arsenal option. If it were me, I’d rather see a starlet like Brooke Norton-Cuffy given the opportunities an inevitable departure might steal away.
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