Former Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna admits he can see Hector Bellerin leaving the club in this summer’s transfer window.
Bellerin has been Arsenal’s first choice in the right-back position for many years now, but the jury is out on whether or not he’s really lived up to the potential he first showed as a youngster.
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On top of that, the Spain international may well feel he wants a new challenge after Arsenal’s struggles in recent times, as he could arguably start week in, week out for a bigger club in the Premier League or elsewhere in Europe.
Sagna admits he can imagine Bellerin might be starting to feel like he did when he decided to leave Arsenal in the summer of 2014.
The Frenchman insists he still loves the Gunners, but came to the point where he felt like he needed to challenge himself, and he told Goal he could now see Bellerin coming to the same decision at the end of this season.
“Hector has been there for years,” Sagna said. “He started playing not long after I left, so he has been in the team for like six years.
“And a bit like I felt, he probably feels that he wants to challenge himself because he has been there for a long time.
“It’s nothing to do with the club, nothing to do with winning cups or whatever. At some point if you want to progress, in my mind you need to go somewhere and challenge yourself and start from zero again. This is how I felt.
“Arsenal was my club and is still my beloved club, but after seven years I had the feeling that because I was part of the house, even when I didn’t deserve to play, I would have played.
“It’s quite tricky as a player. Hector’s still young, he still has five good years to play at the top level and he can do it. So, if he left now, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
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