Chaos at Arsenal and what it means for Barça's Bellerin pursuit
The Gunners are out of the Champions League spaces and Wenger's future is unknown
Bellerin has been a long-term Barça target and Robert Fernandez wants to sign him this summer
Hector Bellerin has always been Barcelona's desired right-back since they knew Dani Alves was about to pack his bags. A season has passed since then and the club still feel the Arsenal man has the ideal profile to fill the right side of defence at Camp Nou for the coming seasons.
However, his youth and quality have converted him in to one of the most expensive full-backs on the market. And until now any potential departure from the Emirates has been extremely complicated.
But Barça have reasons to be more than optimistic with regards to Bellerin's future. Sporting director Robert Fernandez has opted to change the time to negotiate the deal which had been planned a couple of months ago.
As SPORT revealed, Barça wanted to open contact with Arsenal during Easter. That was the route the Blaugrana had planned to follow.
However, the panaromic has changed and Barça have not felt it opportune to follow that plan, instead waiting for the season to draw closer to the end and for certain matters to be cleared up.
Barça, who are also working on alternatives, though, do feel that the current chaos at Arsenal could benefit them in their move for Bellerin.
SPORTING PROBLEMS
Arsenal are immersed in a deep sporting crisis. They could save the season with an FA Cup win, but the immediate future is uncertain. Out of the Champions League places, there are various players who are stalling over signing new deals.
Bellerin signed a new contract earlier this season with the promise of forming part of a side with aspirations of winning everything. It's evident, though, that's not been the case.
Problems on the pitch have become problems on the bench, where manager Arsene Wenger is sat. The Frenchman has still not signed the two-year contract offer he has on the table. For now, he's planning for the future, but the criticism from the stands remains.
ON THE BENCH
On top of all this, for the last few games Bellerin has been left on the bench. Wenger has chnaged the system and the Spanish international has paid the price.
Things have changed a lot in the last few months. Bellerin is no longer untouchable and his price cannot be touted at 40 million euros. At least, that's how Robert sees it.
