The Sad Case of Hector Bellerin and Why Arsenal Must Seriously Consider Selling Him this Summer by AI
Hector Bellerin has had a good run so far in Arsenal. When he emerged, it was with a frightening athletic ability to eat up space like no other. Even as other aspects of his game were lacking, such as his defensive ability, Bellerin could always make up for it with his pace. In Emery’s first season, Hector Bellerin was 23 and reaching new levels in his game. He added a sense of when to move and when to stay back with increased technical capabilities. He was at 5 assists before the middle of the campaign and right on track to break the double-digit mark along with Liverpool’s fullback duo when he sustained the worst injury of his career.
Ever since then, Bellerin has lost his elite pace. When he runs, he looks leggy and painfully slow compared to his former self. He can no longer outrun even the average attacker. And when you consider that his defensive work leaves much to be desired, his flank has become a defensive liability for Arsenal this season. Opponents repeatedly target his side and the likes of Pepe in front of him have not been helping much.
And yet the Spaniard is on 4 assists this season. He won the penalty that gave us our first league victory at Old Trafford in many years. How is he doing it without his former pace?
It’s simple: Bellerin has upped his technical skills. He now passes very well now and has improved the timing of his runs. Naturally, these are things that come with age and experience. As such, one must wonder: at what level would Hector Bellerin currently be if he never lost his pace?
Sadly, despite improving technically, the loss of pace will always ensure that the 25-year-old who was never a defensive lynchpin remains a liability defensively. With the emergence of a realistic prospect like Tariq Lamptey at Brighton, who has already been linked with Arsenal, we must consider replacing the Spaniard.
Lamptey is homegrown, incredibly young and electric. He’s a slightly better version of young Bellerin with more technique. As a Chelsea academy graduate, he is London bred, Premier League experienced and needs no adaptation period. He is open for a move to a more ambitious club who can offer him the brightness of London and better wages than whatever he is getting at Brighton. There is also the lure of European football, a bigger platform and little competition. Lamptey will be hoping that Arsenal will give him better chances of an England cap.
Hector Bellerin, on the other hand, will not go cheaply despite his injury. I do not see Arsenal selling him for anything less than 25-30 million pounds. It could even be more. Whatever Arsenal sell him for, it will be a significant contribution to any transfer fee for Lamptey. And when you consider the fact that Lamptey will likely not be earning much more than Bellerin in wages, it becomes a very sensible option.
Competition for Lamptey won’t be that much of a problem. Liverpool, City and Chelsea (who let him go in the first place) won’t be in the running for him. United is also unlikely and even if they did, there is less competition at Arsenal. Interest from abroad is likely but Arsenal have a unique advantage to win any race for his signing. Even a big transfer fee would not be much of a problem if Hector Bellerin is sold. Arsenal must seriously consider this.
Agboola Israel
“Competition for Lamptey won’t be that much of a problem“
That’s because he’s sh1t
Agboola ,I would suggest you do some homework regarding Bellerin loss of pace .
Also I believe out of the 19 goals we have conceded this season
5 from right side
6 from left
8 through middle or set pieces .
Thank you bro. I don’t understand y some fans want bellerin out. He’s not good defensively quite alright but he’s good attacking wise and can read d game well and a respected figure among d boys. Believe me fam he and and Tierney will dominate d full back position respectively just like I predicted that our fortune will change starting from d Chelsea game
I hope you are right.
Because Bellerin has had very oscillating performances ever since coming off that injury, especially this season. Just remember the toothlessness of him and the Brazillian Ozil on the right flank in our long bad patch of games.
That’s the problem I have with him, Xhaka, Holding, Ceballos, even AMN. They are very inconsistent.
Bellerin is not a big name bag tag player
Fans want 2 world class players at every position just like their Fifa 21 team…
instead of having funds to build hospitals, better health care, assist the poor and needy and Etc….
Fans would rather see huge amount of funds spend on players
Lamptey is a very highly rated player who will not be at Brighton for long? Will he play at Arsenal? Time will tell but I do feel if Bellerin is sold he is an ideal replacement. We do have Maitland-Niles who is very similar to Lamptey, he already has England caps so I think arsenal will lean towards him and save a bit of £££.
I won’t sell a mature Bellerin who has better stats for a short in height prospect like Tariq.
Roberto Carlos wasn’t tall.
Bellerin is still the best left back we have. Although he’s not perfect (And fans love to criticize him) he is still an important part of this team, and we can’t let him go unless a top-class LB is brought in to replace him, or unless Cedric suddenly goes up a level or one of the youth players steps up in that position. AMN is OK but not better than Bellerin at LB.
*Right Back / RB
Say Right Bck not left bck
The best young right back I have seen this season is James Justin of Leicester .Bellerin and for that matter, AMN may go if the price is right which would pave the way to bring in Justin who in my opinion is a cut above Lamptey.
Keep bellerin and also sign lamptey as a competition and wen d right time comes we can sell bellerin. By then lamptey would have mature and ready
The same thing I have in mind
Total agree
Bellerin’s biggest problem is his aerial weakness, so we shouldn’t replace him with a small RB like Lamptey. Despite not being the best defensively and lost a bit of his pace, Bellerin is still quick and excellent in attacking
Arteta’s and Klopp’s systems require fullbacks who are good in dribbling and crossing, such as Bellerin and Alexander-Arnold. Many Liverpool’s fans commented on Alexander-Arnold’s defending liability, yet it didn’t stop him from becoming one of the best creators last season
Even if we sell Bellerin. I don’t think we need to buy another right back. We still have Cedric and Niles to fill up that hole, not forgetting Chambers was once a right back. We can use the money to buy a creative midfielder. I rate Bellerin though. But if we need to sell. Let us get our business side balanced.
I agree, AMN is defensively better than Bellerin and has shown in big games, that Arsenal loses nothing in attack.
It is only reasonable that Bellerin is a bit risk averse in defending, particularly heading, when he has suffered such a serious injury.
Bellerin appears to have more interest now in pursuing his modelling career, than reaching his potential as a professional footballer.
I have to say I don’t think Bellerin is the special player he promissed to be when he first came on the scene. He looks even lighter in comparison to Thierney. I am almost indefferent between AMN and Bellerin at RB. to me AMN offers more than Bellerin going forward and is better on the ball. Perhpas his defending needs a bit more work. But then again Arteta clearly doesn’t rate AMN higher than Bellerin and I trust Arteta on this.
Having said that he is not our biggest weakness by far. He is a decent but not great player. You get £30 mill for him you take the money and run.
I think our midfield is in more pressing need of upgrading. As is our back up keeper IMO.
Lamptey ? He’s 5’-5” / 1.65m. We do not need another midget in the team, especially not in defence.
That shit hit me Declan’. 😅😅😅
would it make a difference to our set piece defending? 😉
@Declan. Roberto Carlos wasn’t tall.
@Declan. Roberto Carlos wasn’t tall.
He was also a midget. 😎
Yes, Roberto Carlos is 5’-6.142” / 1.68m but is also a total legend of a midget and that extra 1” makes all the difference🙂
Bellerin is still no slouch even though he’s lost a yard or so off of his pace, but he looks to have made a positive connection with Saka since he moved to the right.
The issue really is that he’s said that he would like to return to play in La Liga at some point, so now that he’s approaching 26 and the peak of his game and with a probable 6/8 years ahead it would be a good time to sell.
I do not have a clue who could replace him…nobody currently at the club that’s for sure.
You make a realistically good case for trying to get LAMPTEY, Agboola andunlike many on here , I do not and nver have rated BELLERIN at al , as he simply cannot defend andis useless in the air. LAMPTEY is a serious upgrade onBellerin who I, for one, am keen to sell. But I am also a realist and so I remind you of the obstacle which will prevent this happening. KROENKE!
There is no way we will avoid paying FAR more for Lamptey than we would get for BELLERIN and your ON figures are seriously amiss imo.
Good comment Jon.
I hear some say Bellerin is good on attacking front.
Is Bellerin a defender or attacker?
His role is to defend and if he can attack, its a plus for him. Let’s not deceive ourselves with his attacking prowess.
We need him to defend than to attack.
Sell and get Lamptey.
jon, why is Kroenke supposed to spend more money, when the Club is not efficiently utilising what it has been allocated?
As you have stated Arsenal has too often overpaid for players, paid high wages and then been unable to sell on. It is not the Kroenkes making these decisions.
Cash in..
He is average. We have been waiting for neary 10 years for him to come good. He is never going to be more thab what we have come to know of him.
My personal opinion of course.
Why aint nobody talking bout Max Aarons of Norwich?
Oh, you undestimate youself surely. After all you(who DID mention Aarons) are not “nobody”! Are you!
Arsenal could have got a bulk deal with Norwich City on buying Emi Buendia and Max Aarons, with loans of a couple of young Arsenal players as added incentive to help with promotion.
Eh, Bellerin is average and hasn’t lived up to his early promise. He still has some selling value of around 25mill+ and now would be the perfect time to move him on and get an attacking style fullback with high potential. Lamptey, Aarons, Justins, are all players people have mentioned here and I think all of them would be worth going after. We need to push on and try to have reliable players that can put together more than just a patch of form once in a while. Xhaka, Bellerin, Ceballos, Lacazette all fall into this category.
Ask AMN to play at RB or take a hike. If he says yes, work on his crossing and heading. Then sell Bel and reinvest the $ in a younger player with upside.
Grass is always greener on the other side, sell Bellerin, buy mr. A… sell Bellerin, buy mr. B. you all will still moan when your messiah turns out to be a flop. Arsenal needs improvement but selling Bellerin is far from being the best option right now
Problem is that Tariq guy is short, and also has recently suffered an injury. And his sample space is not enough to proclaim him an able backup to HB. People slate HB for his defensive ability, but more often than not this season, it is HB who is forward on the right side, while the RW is not able to provide anything there, and so his flank is weak. Now with someone like Saka, we can see if a reasonable partnership can be established. KT is not slated as much as HB because he gets defensive cover. Now KT is better defensively obviously, but as Mr. Dan pointed out we have conceded one more goal from his flank. KT also was, until recently less effective with his crosses, while HB usually had more of a chance to lay an assist due to his intelligence inside the box. Now I am really happy that we see a different KT to the one who more often than not hit the first man in the box instead of a good cross or cut in. So maybe you are too hasty in your analysis. That said if Arsenal do get a chance for having better RB than HB then I am all for it, but right now, no one is better than him at that role sadly.
You guys are a bit obsessed with height. We are talking about RB, not CB, and Bellerin isn’t good in the air anyway.
And I can’t believe there are people pretending Bellerin can cross.
I’ve never taken to the Bellerin hype after him becoming an established member of the first team defence. He’s got certain attributes and can be okay but a lot of the time he’s very hit and miss. Be it with his runs down the wings whereby he can only go so far but then has to stop due to not having the craft to take on his immediate opponent and there fore forced to play the ball 20 yards back from his present position. Sometimes in that scenario,he even loses the ball and despite his renowned speed struggles to get back. There have been many times also where I’ve seen one, two’s played around him with ease and him being unable to do counter them. Not because they were well worked as some of them have been done using an average right back and one other player equally average. It looked like to me that he didn’t have the awareness or experience to make what is albeit, a difficult situation much harder for the oppo. Other times it also looked like he didn’t care and probably thought he’d done enough !
Again, I don’t rate him as a good defender as that’s his first and foremost task and he doesn’t even do that bit well. Let alone improve other aspects of his game.