Bring him home! Arsenal's defensive solution available for FREE

Tom Weber

• Updated: 31 May 2023 17:53 BST
• 3 min read

Former Arsenal star Hector Bellerin is set for free agency, while the Gunners look for a solution to their right-back problem - could he be the answer?

The 28-year-old has had a tough time of things since leaving the Emirates. The Spaniard departed as a free agent following a decent loan with Real Betis. He ended up at Barcelona, but that proved to be a complete disaster.

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Injury restricted him to just a handful of appearances at the Camp Nou before he was released from his contract in January, signing for Sporting CP with whom he knocked his old love Arsenal out of the Europa League.

His fortunes didn't improve in Portugal, however. More fitness issues have seen him be reduced to a peripheral figure who mostly makes substitute appearances, and his time with the fourth-placed Portuguese team is already coming to an end.

Free agency again

According to Relevo, Hector Bellerin is set to become a free agent again this summer. Originally, an end-of-season meeting was planned to discuss the terms of a new two-year deal, but that meeting won't be necessary now because the two parties have decided to go separate ways by mutual agreement.

His ex-club Arsenal are in the market for a right-back, having been linked with Galatasaray's Sacha Boey in recent times due to their desire to bring in a player who is more natural in that position than Ben White and injury-prone Takehiro Tomiyasu.

At 28, Bellerin could still be a useful player - but useful to Arsenal? That's a different question and one that can't be answered in the affirmative given his battles with injury. Moreover, he was never good enough to be a starter for a team that wants to challenge for Premier League titles, but a return would certainly be heartwarming as he was a popular figure at the Emirates.

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More likely than an Arsenal return, according to Relevo, is a move back to Real Betis, a club dear to Bellerin's heart.

"At the moment there are no negotiations with Betis, but we do not rule out that they start soon. The truth is that Bellerin has Betis in mind and if there was even the slightest possibility [of a move], he would prioritise a return to Seville," writes the Spanish outlet.