Arsenal are prepared to sell off Hector Bellerin in the next transfer window in order to raise funds for further additions. It has been reported that the Gunners would accept a bid in the region or upwards of £50m for the right-back who has attracted interests from Juventus, Barcelona and Manchester City.
The Spaniard has been a regular starter for the North London club ever since his emergence from the youth ranks. He has been at the heart of heavy criticism following the poor results that Arsenal has had to endure over the course of the season.
Their failure to improve upon their 6th place finish has not sat well with the Arsenal faithful who have placed majority of the blame on the management. While Arsene Wenger is pegged to be the root cause of the conundrum, Bellerin has been scapegoated too for various reasons.
Be it his defensive abilities or his performances on the offensive end in terms of deliveries inside the penalty box. The 22-year-old is currently serving a spell on the sidelines due to injury and is hoping to make a return soon.
Currently, Wenger does not have an exact replacement for Bellerin. Calum Chambers and Ainsley-Maitland Niles has been fielded as makeshift options over the past 2 fixtures. While criticism is warranted for almost every Arsenal player this season, it would be foolish for Arsenal and Wenger to sell off a highly-rated defender.
Nevertheless, if the situation does arise, the club would need a replacement and here are a few candidates they should consider beforehand.
Pablo Maffeo
The 20-year-old is currently serving a loan spell with Girona FC away from his parent club, Manchester City. He has grabbed the opportunity to showcase his talents in the La Liga and has made 25 appearances under Pablo Machin.
He has been capped for the youth ranks of the Spain national team 9 times and is belting out impressive performances on a consistent basis. He even managed to catch the eye of Lionel Messi himself who was caught chatting with the youngster after the league tie back in September. With Kyle Walker and Danilo in the squad, Maffeo will be a surplus to Pep’s requirements and Wenger can look to make a swoop.
Almamy Toure
Toure is a product of the AS Monaco academy and has been quietly making himself known in the French League. With 14 Ligue 1 and 3 Champions League appearances, Toure has managed to get 5 assists to his name this season – decent numbers for a player receiving very limited minutes on the pitch behind first-choice right-back, Djibril Sidibe.
Alvaro Odriozola
He plies his trade for Real Sociedad and has attracted heavy interests from Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid. His impressive bouts for the Spain U21 national side and the La Liga outfit needs to be looked into by Wenger as well.
