Although there were a few Arsenal transfer rumours this season suggesting that our brilliant young Spanish right back Hector Bellerin could have his head turned by the transfer interest in him from his boyhood club Barcelona, where he spent the first eight years of his youth career in their famous academy at La Masia.
But Arsenal fans can relax about losing Bellerin, for a while at least. For one thing, when the reports of Barca’s interest came out it was thought that their Brazilian international right back Dani Alves would be moving on this summer and now we know that Alves was just using Man United’s interest to get a better deal.
The other big thing in our favour is how well Wenger showed faith in the Spaniard last season. He was lucky in a sense that Mathieu Debuchy missed most of the season with an unlucky ankle and then shoulder injury, but he grabbed his chance brilliantly and surged ahead of Calum Chambers in Wenger’s plans.
Bellerin has spoken before about how much he appreciates the chances he has been given and again this week he is on the Arsenal website praising the youth policy at the club and declaring it to be one of the greatest things about the Gunners and something that us fans should really appreciate. He also revealed how happy he was when he realised how much we had taken him to our heart when the name of Bellerin went ringing around Loftus Road.
He said, “I remember the first time I heard it – we were playing QPR away. I started hearing something like Bellerin and I thought, ‘Is that really a song for me?’. And then they sang it.
“I couldn’t believe it. To play away at QPR and hear my song was amazing. The away support is really strong at Arsenal and to hear that they’re cheering for you, singing your name, you can’t really ask for more. That was one of the highlights of my season.
“In the beginning when you start playing you hope that one day you will have your own song. Once that happened for the first time, it felt like everything had fallen into place and it was a great experience.
“The fans rate that Arsenal don’t just buy players, they make them the players they are. Arsenal fans are really proud of that and I think that’s a great thing.
“When players like Francis, Jack or myself come up, the fans should be proud that their team is doing what they’re doing. That’s a great thing Arsenal do.”
Does that sound like a player that is considering a move away to you?