Arsenal right-back was perfect fit for City’s new manager – a young player with Barcelona DNA and an education in the Premier League
The overtures started around February time, when Manchester City had announced that Pep Guardiola would become their new manager at the end of the season. Guardiola wanted a full-back with searing pace and attacking instincts, somebody to build the play out from the back, and he wanted Héctor Bellerín of Arsenal.
To Guardiola, it was the perfect fit – a young player with Barcelona DNA and an education in the Premier League. These days, there is little doubt that, at only 21, the former Barcelona youth-team player is the finest right-back in England. Bellerín was named in last season’s PFA Team of the Year and this month he was shortlisted for the Fifpro World Team of the Year, alongside only one other Premier League defender – Chelsea’s David Luiz. The team will be announced in January.
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