Speedy Hector Bellerin rewards Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for show of faith

Posted Saturday, May 30, 2015 by Express.co.uk

THIS TIME last year Hector Bellerin was watching from the stands at Wembley as Arsenal lifted the FA Cup in that dramatic final against Hull.

But 12 months on, football can be a very long time indeed, as the young Spaniard will tell you.

Bellerin, yet another poached from Barcelona’s youth ranks by the ever watchful Gunners manager Arsene Wenger, had to wait two years before making his Arsenal debut.

But the 20 -year-old this season has suddenly stamped his mark on Wenger’s team, and since January has effectively made the right back spot his own, with displays of frightening pace and determined defending.

So out of the reckoning was Bellerin, that midway through last season he was farmed out on loan to Championship side Watford.

The Hornets training ground is slap bang alongside Arsenal’s plush HQ just off the M25 in leafy Hertfordshire, a wayward Watford ball will frequently land on those perfect neighbouring pitches. But at the time it must have seemed a million miles away for the boy from Catalonia.

But Bellerin was handed his chance this year as Callum Chambers’ form stuttered and injury struck the big money buy from Southampton – and he has grabbed it with both hands.

He said: “After Watford I definitely wanted to play first team football. I didn’t want to play under-21s. We were thinking probably another loan, but then the boss wanted me to stay.

“Because of injuries he gave me the chance. I think I took it. I showed I could play and the boss has been happy for me to play.

Speedy Hector Bellerin rewards Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for show of faith
Hector Bellerin has been a revelation for Arsenal

He threw me in some big games. “If someone had told me at the beginning of the season it would turn out like this I wouldn’t have believed them. It has been a great season for me personally. The second part of the season we showed great character as a team, great progress from last year, and we need to keep that going.

“It was weird training next door, but it was good because I didn’t have to move house! It was strange to see my team-mates driving by.

“But it was a great experience, having Gianfranco Zola as a coach. He is a legend and taught me a lot. It was only eight games but it was great playing first team football and being involved in the Championship which is a great level. It helped me as a player and as a person.

“Last year I was at Wembley in the stands for the semi-final and the final. All the young players went. It was an inspiration for wanting to be there this time.

“It was like last year I was at Dortmund watching in the stands when we played them in the Champions League, and this year it was my first game of the season against them – crazy.

“In one year going from the stands to the pitch.

“It was difficult for me to leave Barcelona – the fact I had to leave family and friends. I was coming to another country, another language. But I saw the opportunity and I had to take it.

“I am really glad I made that decision. If I stayed at Barca, I don’t know where I would have been. Some of my old team-mates play second division now in Soain, and they will probably get relegated. So being here, and playing Premier League and Champions League is great.”

Speedy Hector Bellerin rewards Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for show of faith
Hector Bellerin celebrates his goal against Liverpool

Legend has it that Bellerin is quicker even than Usain Bolt, fastest man on earth, over 40 metes after tests at the club this season – and he is certainly faster than electric teammate Theo Walcott – or for that matter anyone else ever at the club.

But the Spaniard said: “At the beginning of the season the machine said I was the quickest, I held the record at the club. On the last test, the numbers were also in my favour. The all-time record at the club. It was 4.41 seconds over 40 metres.

“Usain Bolt? That was just talk. He’s a sprinter, I’m a footballer, it’s a completely different world. All I need to do is use my speed to help the team. If I’m quicker than quicker than Usain, that doesn’t really bother me.”