Guillem Balague Explains Why Arsenal Star Is Unlikely to Make Barcelona Switch This Summer
Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin has been heavily linked with a summer move back to his native Catalonia. Barcelona are reportedly planning to pry Bellerin away from north London after the Gunners failed to secure Champions League football for a second successive season.
However during a Sky Sports Q&A session with La Liga pundit Guillem Balague, there was a discussion about the prospect of Bellerin relocating home in the summer transfer window - but Balague claimed that the Spanish full-back was out of Barca's price range.
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During the the correspondence on twitter, Balague was asked: “Is there a firm interest from Barcelona in Hector Bellerin and/or Aaron Ramsey, would a potential swap deal including Ousmane Dembele be possible?”.
He replied: "No, Hector Bellerin is too expensive. As I said they want a left-back and also a right-back but the Arsenal star is too expensive. As far as I know there is no interest from Barcelona in Aaron Ramsey.
He continued: "As for Dembele, as I said earlier, surprisingly enough Barca are considering loaning him out. At first they thought he’s advancing well but now they realize he needs to get minutes and he won’t if Antoine Griezmann arrives. They are waiting to see if Griezmann gets confirmed and if that’s the case they are looking at the possibility of letting him go on loan."
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Ousmane Dembele was signed for a fee of around £135m last summer to replace the outgoing Neymar but has failed, so far, to live up to expectations. Griezmann is another player who has been strongly associated with a transfer to the Camp Nou this summer, and could be the man to fill the void left by the Brazilian.
As for Bellerin, although a deal with Barcelona may be off the cards, there will be plenty of other suitors in Europe hoping to secure the services of the pacy right-back. Arsenal must decide whether to cash in or try to keep their in demand defender.
