Gabriele Marcotti delivers update on Hector Bellerin’s Arsenal future
Gabriele Marcotti delivers an update on Inter Milan's reported interest in Arsenal's Hector Bellerin
Gabriele Marcotti has played down suggestions that Hector Bellerin could be set to leave Arsenal to join Inter Milan this summer.
The Spanish defender’s situation at The Emirates has become a talking point in recent days amid suggestions that he could be set to leave the north London club.
Bellerin, 26, scored one goal and made two assists in 25 Premier League games for Arsenal last season but he has been linked with a possible move to Serie A champions Inter Milan this summer.
The full-back’s contract at Arsenal is due to expire in the summer of 2023 and it remains to be seen what the future holds for the Spaniard.
Now, Italian football expert Marcotti has played down suggestions that Bellerin could be on his way to Inter Milan this summer, despite the uncertainty about his future rumbling on.
Speaking to ESPN FC on 28 June, Marcotti said of Inter’s apparent interest in Bellerin: “I know for a fact this is Hector Bellerin’s people who are pushing this [story]. He has his own agency and so on.
“I like Bellerin a lot. He is a very good person and he is a model pro. Someone needs to tell him Antonio Conte has left Inter. The guy who has replaced him is not a fetishist for Premier League players on big contracts who Inter can’t afford from a Premier League club who are trying to move him on.
“That is the situation with Bellerin. Bellerin’s contract is entering that stage where if he’s going to stay at Arsenal, he needs to extend it. Arsenal either aren’t willing to extend it or haven’t extended it on the terms that he wants.
“Is he going to camp out at Inter? There’s talk of a loan and option to buy. No, I don’t think he’s the right fit for Inter.
“I know theoretically people view him as a tremendous attacking full-back but he’s not. I think he’s a defensive full-back. He’s a smaller Cesar Azpilicueta. It’s a fine defender in the right system but not Inter’s system.”
Bellerin made a total of 35 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal last season as the Gunners finished in eighth place in the Premier League table and missed out on European qualification.
The Gunners, who have not won the Premier League since 2004, will focus purely on domestic affairs next term.
