Tine to cash in on Bellerin – Is “Heccy-B” close his final Arsenal curtain?

There has been a report lately that Hector Bellerin, the club’s Spanish full-back with the London accent, has asked to leave the club. “Heccy B”, as he’s known in some quarters online, could well leave whilst being one of our longest-serving players.

Bellerin emerged in the 14/15 season, following an injury to Mattieu Debuchy, and cemented his place with good performances. A goal in a home win vs. Liverpool showed his talent.
He kicked on in the 15/16 season, though in 16/17 and 17/18 his form dropped off.

An improvement was apparent under Emery, but this petered out with an injury at home to Chelsea.

However, is now time to say goodbye, and for the club and hector to part ways?

Bellerin showed initial promise, but then has he really kicked on?

Age

Hector is 25 now – in most cases, this is a player’s prime.
Yes, he’s had injuries. But even before the recent major injury, his form had dipped for a few seasons.

Balancing his age with his potential, which really shouldn’t be an issue at his career stage, maybe time is running out for him.
How much time do we give him to realise his potential? And surely by 25, one’s full potential should be reached.

Time is running out for him – and he has a short amount of time to prove his potential.

Jesse Lingard at Man United is often mocked, as some clueless pundits call him “young” and “full of potential”. Lingard will be 28 soon – and thus way past young and in his prime. Does Hector want to follow the same path? If not, then he needs to bed, or it could be curtains at Arsenal.

Injuries

We saw with Wilshere and Diaby that potential can be dampened by injuries.

If his injuries persist, then we may have to cut our losses as we did with Wilshere and Diaby.

We gave both Jack and Abou time, and this ran out ultimately.
So what time do we give Hector?

Football is a short career – and both clubs and players have to assess where they stand in this capacity.

Time to go

Hector clearly is a smart guy, with strong beliefs and a sense of self.
I’ve never minded his love of fashion, and whilst I eat meat I do admire his adherence to veganism. I’d argue that his veganism gets him unfair dues, as much as his love of fashion. He has the right to outside interests and in some way has something to fall back on after his footballing career ends. He recently spoke about photography and he is using the lockdown to explore other interests.

But given his age, and the fact that he hasn’t truly progressed, maybe it’s time to go.
He had shown immense promise during his emergence. In 15/16, he was one of our best players, and the run he assisted Ozil for the winner vs. Bayern in the CL was classic.
But the decline in 16/17 and 17/18 has cost him, and the club cannot wait forever.

It may seem sad or harsh, but such is life in this footballing world.
If we can get £30m or more for him, that’s fine.  That seems like a fair market value for him, and
He even got into the Spanish squad a few years ago, so he may need a move to bed himself in again to get back into his national side.

However, bar the promise, I think we may be entering the Hector end-times. Despite the initial potential, it could be that we may soon part ways.

Adios, Senor Hector. If he does go, then gracias por las memorias.

Marble Halls

MarbleHallsTV is an Arsenal social media account on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Been a Gooner since the 90s, inspired by Ian Wright, then Bergkamp, Vieira, Henry, Pires, Campbell, Rosicky, Koscielny, Ozil and Sanchez. A digital marketer/entrpreneur by profession, born in UK living in the Americas now.