I think that there will be division amongst Arsenal fans over whether we should be selling our long-serving wing-back Hector Bellerin or not, but according to the Arsenal oracle David Ornstein, it is looking like a real possibility right now.
Here is his tweet from last night….
PSG approach Arsenal to sign Hector Bellerin & clubs now in dialogue. #AFC would like to keep him but will sell for right price. 25yo open to new challenge if deal struck. Could provide vital cash for targets. Details + Ceballos, AMN & more @TheAthleticUK https://t.co/pvg1QeLydS
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) September 1, 2020
The Gunners have been busy in the transfer market regarding incoming players, but it is clear that we will now have to raise cash before we can consider buying any big-money targets, and Bellerin is an obvious choice to bring in a reasonable fee, especially when it is mega-rich PSG that come calling.
It has previously been reported in the Telegraph that the fashion conscious Bellerin is open to a new challenge, and it seems obvious he would relish a chance to move to ultra-chic Paris if the opportunity comes to fruition.
It will certainly be interesting to see how much we could raise for Bellerin, and just as interesting will be who Arteta replaces him with in the starting line-up. Is Cedric Soares our only other designated right-back? Or can Arteta persuade Maitland-Niles to take the space permanently?
No we should keep him. He can improve under arteta.
If that means we get Partey immediately.. then sell him, we have to make priorities, but its a bit of a joke.. all the top teams in the PL are spending 40m like its nothing but arsenal cant afford to spend 44m on partey and has to sell first
So who plays RWB? Remember AMN supposed to be playing in midfield and Cedric, RB
AMN will play wingback. He wants gametime and if Bellerin leaves he will be a starter for us. His comment about only wanting to play in midfield is outdated at this point. More recently he has said he is happy to play anywhere.
👍
After a long time we have attained quality squad depth in defensive positions so it makes little sense to me to disrupt that balance. Bellerin has played well ever since cedric came into action. The tough competition is going to keep both of them sharp and motivated. Partey is important, but we shouldn’t disturb the positions that are well balanced already.
He is not the same after returning from his injury and if PSG are willing to pay the right price, he may be allowed to leave. We have Soares and AMN as replacements for him and we could use the money to buy Partey.
👍 The catwalks of Paris are calling.
Sell.
We have to remember that Arsenal have been spending the most out of all premier league teams which does not play champions league football. We spent £72 million on Pepe last season and £100 million on both Lacazette and aubemayang in previous seasons. None of these players have tasted champions league football with arsenal. We have been punching above our weight regarding transfer fees considering we do not have champions league football or an ambitious and generous owner willing to spend whatever it takes for the clubs success.
Denzel, the reason being that Arsenal has fallen behind and the gulf is widening (8th place). Expenditure is required to upgrade the squad and improve squad depth, so that Arsenal can compete to get back into the Champions League.
If to give way to Soares, then no.
Still don’t know why we bought Soares. A Southampton reserve player, playing regular for Arsenal, aged 29 with 4 yrs contract. Unbelievable, but if you’re Spanish and your agent is Kia who also is the agent of Edu, that is very possible.
But Soares is not Spanish though. I will like bellerin to stay as our first right full back, I consider selling him for 25m is a peanut. He should be commanding 45m as value
AMN is miles ahead as a defender, at this point Bellerine maybe offer a bit more going forward, if we keep AMN he has the potential to be amoung the best in a season or two.
Soares was free! We didn’t buy him!
he was bought at around 4m upon agreeing permanent deal
Soares is an underrated professional footballer; if he stays injury free he won’t let Arsenal down.
Soars is supposed to come to give competition to Bellerin due to his inconsistency after the injury, and to provide cover.
To me he is doing fine
💯 to many haters
That’s a blatant lie he was not a Southampton reserve player, he played mostly if he wasnt injured.
Soares is not a Spanish player is a Portugal
I wasn’t a fan of the transfer at first but it has turned out to be a fine purchase. He’s EPL experienced, a Portugal starter, has won Euro’s (even if you dont think they were a great squad, defensively they were solid and Cedric was part of that backline). Also, I fully expect AMN to take over and not Soares.
Soares for the money is a good backup option. Do you think right-backs better than him will want to be backups at Arsenal. At Real Madrid or Man City sure, but for us he’s just the right quality as a backup and we’re a good option for him if he doesn’t care too much about playing time. And he was a starter most of his time there for Southampton.
I dont know why most fans are in support of letting Bellerin leave. Is it to give AMN chance? Or Cedric?
Talking of AMN, am really not sure he has what it takes to consistently perform better than Bellerin at RB, I remember we only had Bellerin for 2 to 3 seasons with chambers and AMN covering during injured period. We saw AMN at same position, and he is no where near Bellerin standards. Some even make excuses for him, saying he is meant for mf, some even preferred him over our current mf who have proven themselves in hundreds of games, compared to AMN one fluke Utd game of ages ago, now my question is, has AMN ‘preferred ‘ role changed to RB? If we are selling Bellerin are we to buy another fullback? Or give Cedric who was acquired to cover/provide competition, the main role?
I said so but many disagreed. I guess they are hoping AMN would get better in RB under Arteta or that we can get partey/Auoar+ decent replacement for the selling Fee. Some even argued AMN is already better than Bellerin in RB.
@Adajim & Ba Elkhirsawy
AMN has better recovery time and is better at 1 on 1’s than HB. Plus he’s much better at getting forward as well as being faster all around…
👍 Agree NY_Gunner.
Really? In the last 3 matches, they’ve all played . Who has more offensive actions resulting in goals? You say Niles is better getting forward.
If we can keep AMN as our first right back with Cedric or Mustaphi as covers, then selling Bellerin is the right decision, because the money will help us acquire other targets, like Partey and Aouar. Recently I trust AMN better than Bellerin especially in big matches. Sell him.
@Adajim
I don’t think Soares or any other player signing comes knowing he will be made the “back-up/sub/helper/sidekick” to another player. When Soares signed I believe he came here to make the RB position his. He’s not a back up. He’s a challenger for the RB position.
Bellerin is an average fullback and I dont think using AMN over him is really a downgrade. It’s something different but we are not worse off for it. AMN better 1v1’s, better defensively too. Going forward yes he does struggle, but Bellerin is only a slightly better crosser. We will miss Bellerin’s linkup with midfielders, but AMN has a higher ceiling. I think Bellerin is a bit overrated by many Arsenal fans.
Arteta trusts AMN in the big games, he hasn’t let him down and that’s all that counts.
he is overrated so would be happy to see him go … cedric or amn would not be a weakening defensively and if it means funds to get a quality DM then it would see an overall strengthening of the first 11 .. a new RB can come next year
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There are not many clubs splashing the cash in England- just 2of the usual suspects.
Certain players will either be difficult to sell or command small transfer fees so if Bellerin goes I’ll wish him well and see what the rest of the window brings
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Please what exactly does belerin bring to the team?
defensively hes not good, he’s not a threat in attack, he’s lost his speed, the arrival of Cedric who is better in defense and attack in my opinion has helped him to step up. i will sell him for 25m.
I can point to 3 offensive actions from Bellerin in the last 5 games that directly resulted in goals. I don’t know what you mean by he offers nothing in attack. Also, he marshalled raheem sterling, sadio mane against pool and city. He offers nothing in defense?
What did he do against Mane? Just because they operate on the same side of the pitch doesnt mean he did a good job. If we are talking about the Community Shield, Holding outperformed Bellerin on that side of the defense for sure. If you havent noticed our opponents regularly attack our right side way more than our left side, and it’s because Bellerin is considered a weakpoint defensively. I’ll agree he has stepped up his attacking contribution in recent weeks. But not to the degree I’d skip out on 30-40mill+ for him.
And it so happens that Mane got his two shots on goal after Hector left the pitch . One of them actually coming on Niles side of the defense.
Can we sell xhaka too please? That’s the last person in our starting 11 who shouldn’t be starting but coaches find it hard to bench him(he’s a good player and has improved under Arteta, but he’s not good enough to be starting in a team that wants to win the league). I hope we get Partey, Aouar and ceballos in return.
@Kstix if five coaches including the Swiss coach prefer to have him in their teams then there’s likely something they see him that you don’t.
Thank you, lmao. Every manager picks him and he will continued to be picked. He has his flaws but he’s very much needed in our midfield.
I have nothing against Hector. He is a decent player. But as we all know, there is no way we can get all these other top players we need without selling a few of our players as well. That is just how it is. So Hector can be sold if that means getting Partey and Aour. Cedric is a solid right back and Ainsley can be second choice. Besides, if we stick to a 3-4–3 formation, then we are looking at full backs and wing backs. Certainly we can cope without Hector. But imagine this team with Partey and Aour. Boys and girls, that only means one thing. It is time for us to Party!
my opinion is exactly the same as yours 👍🏾
You’ve watched games where we don’t have Hector at right back. Are we as offensively astute? Do we not have more disposable assets than him? Imagine this. Torreira , Guendouzi and Elneney combined , if sold for 50m, we’d be able to get partey. Why would we sell a player we don’t have an equivalent for and keep redundant ones?
The arsenal of today is not in position to be picky, aside a few players (2-3) who are indispensable, others will be sold when the right offer comes, we desperately need the money.
We are still paying, Torreira, Saliba, Pepe fees, and we have just spent 25m on Gabriel, the only reasonable sale in recent season is Iwobi.
So we can sell any players except maybe 2or 3
If we sold Bellerin, we’d need to replace him. If AMN was better than him, he would have kept the RB position . He had nearly half the season to make it his own.
Something not right. I dont know, there is always something about Bellerin. He is not the same player after Injury but he is not old. My vote, we need him.
Exactly bro. He can improve better under arteta. Moreover I think arteta likes him
I will sell bellerin any day. Can bellerin get into any og the top 5 teams in epl? No. Can AMN get into any of the top 5 epl teams. Yes, because of his versatility. Bellerin can’t defend, he can’t jump and win duels, nothing. Sell and use the money to get Partey. Gradually all the deadwoods and underperformers will leave our precious Arsenal.
But he is wanted by any top team PSG, that seems to contradict
Hahaha, I don’t know what they see in him that’s why we need to sell ASAP.
PSG want him to model their new kit.
And PSG love fullbacks and defenders that can’t defend. Also, it is a good buy if you are playing in the french league and linking up with Mbappe and Neymar all day. You dont really need a world class fullback, do you?
Niles can get into a top team? Do you mean starting 11? I’d want to know which top teams these are. Which team is playing a weaker right, left back or central midfielder that isn’t 10 times better than Niles? I know for a fact that even if Bellerin would struggle to bench Bissaka , he’d be able to deputise for him. I know he’d start at chealsea, I know he’d start at Spurs, I know he’d deputise at liverpool, I know he’d deputise at City. In which position would Niles start at any of those teams?
That’s why Arteta trusted him in all the big games and stood up to the Board when they wanted AMN sold.
Or maybe he trusted him because the option was Kolasinac. Have you thought of that?
Who was MOTM in Community Shield, was raved about in FA Cup finals and semis, and just got an England call-up? He didn’t get starts based just on the fact Kolsanic wasnt stepping up. AMN has been playing out of his skin, and Arteta sticks by players who play well. Simple as that.
@RSH, the arbitrary pickers for MOTM did Pick AMN , and I appreciate the fact that he had a good game. But just to show you how biased the opinion was , Sue was already calling AMN for man of the match before the game started. Did you find any statistical rating service that rated AMN above Bellerin in that game? I’d really like to know.
AMN is rejected by Wolves in their test, right. May be he deliberately under performed. But Hector is a beast, not many like him. He brings something different to the team!
Speaking entirely personally, about Bellerin hopefuly leaving to go to PSG, I say”OH JOY”!
I HAVELONG WISHED THIS HOPELESS DEFENDER OUT OF OUR CLUB and I am perhaps the Gooner who most wants him gone. I realise some like him and want him to stay and that is fine, as all are entitled to their opinion. But for me I say bring it on, in the next week if possible.
A talked about eventual £30 mill for Bellerin would be robbing PSG and nothing would give ME greater pleasure. I like defenders who CAN defend and have consistently stated that for almost ever.
But we don’t have that kind of RB or RWB, not AMN and obviously not Cedric
And also “obviously not Bellerin”! AMN is a far better defender than hopeless BELLERIN.
I suspect this one will come down to what Bellerin wants. If he is keen for a new challenge then I can’t see Arteta standing in his way as they are reported to be close.
On the balance of things, if he helps bring in Partey I thank him for his service and wish him well. Have no worries about AMN stepping up as a starter with Soares back up.
I would sell him for at least £20m in a blink of an eye.
Nothing special with him at all.
I don’t blame arsenal fans for being stuck to their rigid opinions because analysis is not their thing.
Anyway, to me Cedric is the best RB recruit we’ve got since the days of Lauren.
He’s better than Bellerin in virtually everything, attack, defending, aerial duels etc.
Maybe a tad bit slower? Also he doesn’t go as much infield to contribute to attacks as Bellerin. But his crosses are 🔥!
Aerial duels? You’ve seen cedric win an aerial duel? I seem to remember him loosing more than he wins
Maybe he’s the Coutinho equivalent at Liverpool where they used his money to fund VVD and Alisson in goal to massively improve the team – obviously a risk, but if we get good money & strengthen the midfield then let him go
I like HB, i think he could actually push on under MA and become the player many thought he would be, but if we want to strengthen other area’s, like our CM position ( being that we dont have much money) selling HB may be our best option along with LT and MG to raise enough for our targets.
AMN will probably start ahead of Cedric at RWB if HB does indeed go to PSG and 30m is a good fee.
Hopefully we can get atleast 1 of Partey or Aouar in teh remaining time in this window
The fact that Bellerin has only three caps for the Spanish national side suggests he is not top quality.He burst on the scene because he had a tremendous turn of pace which made up for his lack of positional sense.His speed has dropped as a result of various injuries and he will never become the “world class” player Wenger suggested he was..That said, I would rather sell Mustafi,Sokratis,Torreria,Guendouzi and Kolasinac before Bellerin who has played better since Arteta took over and always gives his all for Arsenal.As for Soares, he is technically good on the ball, but he is not quick and has never been good in the air .He is however a very decent squad player who can be used by Arteta with a measure of confidence.Fans have to realize that a Manager is not looking for a squad of World beaters who will be knocking at his door whenever they are not selected.Soares, like Milner of Liverpool is a good reliable type to have in our squad.
Grandad, your views are sensible as always.
We sold our best dependable right back then to Man city. That was Sagna. Then later on we got a very good right back in Mathieu debuchy.. Belerin got his break due to the injury of debuchy.. First of all, Belerin wasn’t a natural right back. He was a winger who was converted to a right back. Arsene Wenger like always felt that Belerin would be the same way he converted Lauren from being a winger to a solid right back.
Now, we need to remember that during Wenger days. Most of his attack comes from the left, and this will leave space in the right wing for anybody with good speed. Walcot performed there. Chamberlin performed at that same right wing. It was even easier for Belerin cause he had the speed to run right from his own end to the other end of the right wing. The right back was automatically Belerin’s own and debuchy had to be sold. Debuchy was a very good player but it didn’t work for him due to injury and the formation favoured Belerin whose speed was important for our team.
Back to this very moment. We need to be very honest with our views. Belerin speed is still there but things are not the same again and couple with his injury and lack of confidence in some games, he is not just there for me. Belerin is not a dependable right back. I agree the injury played his part but football cares not.
Arteta is building a culture of committed and discipline players without any modelling distraction. It is true Belerin raised his games but he is not just in for me. If truly we can sell Belerin for 30million to PSG, then we should be happy. I’m sure belerin will perform for PSG and I wish him all the best. I also know that Soares will have playing time and step up his game for Arsenal. Soares doesn’t have speed but he is more dependable for Arsenal at this moment than Belerin. Thumbs up to Belerin for raising his game but we need to sell him now. Thank you.
I agree about rather selling other players, but sometimes opportunities come in different order of events. If Bellerin has to go first then so be it. The pros of getting Partey far outweigh keeping Bellerin, who is nothing more than decent and adequate. Looking at our rivals he probably only gets into the Chelsea side, who dont have a great defense either.
I also think he is better than any right back at Spurs RSH.?
Sell him, he is was never a good defender and never will be. We need some one like Tierney on right as well. Bellerin was ok going forward but bad at defending, His positional play is bad and weak in air.