‘That’s true’: David Ornstein claims £17m player has wanted to leave Arsenal for two years now

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Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin has now wanted out at the Emirates Stadium for two years, David Ornstein has said on the Athletic’s Football Podcast.

Wanting out

Bellerin has been linked with a move away from Arsenal this summer, with the right-back seemingly keen to move on.

But his desire to leave Arsenal is actually nothing new.

Bellerin has now wanted out of Arsenal for 24 months, according to the latest update, but previously Mikel Arteta has considered him too important to sell.

“Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I feel like Hector Bellerin has been trying to get out of Arsenal for about two years,” presenter Mark Chapman said.

And Ornstein responded: “That’s true, you’re right. It hasn’t been sanctioned. He has been deemed too important by the various managers and executives.

“He was also very important in helping the club negotiate player wage cuts, during the outbreak of the pandemic but now I think the penny has dropped in his mind well and truly.

“He wants to go this summer and there is no two ways about it.”

Losing his place

The fact that Arsenal’s stance of selling Bellerin has softened was highlighted in their first game of the season.

The Spaniard was left out of Arsenal’s starting line-up, with Calum Chambers preferred to him at right-back.

Chambers struggled in the contest, but with Bellerin’s future so uncertain it would be a shock if he came back into the Gunners’ starting line-up.

Bellerin actually had a rather disappointing season last year where his contributions, particularly in an attacking sense, fell below expectations.

And it could be that he has now played his last game for the Gunners, if the club receive a sizeable bid for him between now and the end of the transfer window, with Arsenal said to want £17 million for him by CalcioMercato.