Hector Bellerin is ready to answer Barcelona's prayers... a year too late

Not everyone is wholeheartedly backing the attempt to sign the former Barcelona youth player, however. If Arsenal let the Premier League’s best right-back go home to Catalonia it will take Barça’s spending from the Gunners over the €200m mark and to say they haven’t always got good value for money is an understatement of the ‘Dani Alves is still quite good isn’t he?’ proportions.

Eight players have made the Arsenal to Barcelona switch and for unmitigated success stories it’s hard to find even one.

Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit set the ball rolling when they arrived for just over €50m in 2000. Neither was a success, but Barcelona were not perturbed and went ahead and signed Gio van Bronckhorst and then Thierry Henry. Gio was a snip at just €2m and although Henry did cost a lot more he also gave value for money – the famous 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu will live long in the memory and while it’s impossible to pick out a man of the match from that day, Henry would definitely be on the shortlist.

But then things took a turn for the worse again. Barça signed Alex Hleb, a €15m acquisition overvalued in hindsight… by about €15m. Cesc Fabregas came home for 36 million and, although shining briefly in sync with Leo Messi, he ultimately never found his old Arsenal form and ended up booed and whistled by disgruntled fans who never forgave him for leaving in the first place.

Alex Song and Thomas Vermaelen complete the rogues’ gallery. Both players spent far more time watching Barcelona than playing for them. Buying them both season tickets would have made more sense and would have worked out a lot cheaper. Song cost €19m!

Bellerin can end up being a lot more like Henry than Hleb. He has that famous Barça DNA they love to talk about. He grew up playing the Barça way and if it weren’t for Dani Carvajal you could argue he has 100 games for the Spain team ahead of them.

His arrival was the first item on new manager Ernesto Valverde’s list and having so far failed to pull-off a single overwhelmingly successful signing since becoming Director of Football Robert Fernandez needs to deliver.

Barcelona are confident they will get the deal over the line. They think Arsenal not making the Champions League helps them and the player did enough interviews in Spain this week as he prepared for international duty to leave nobody in any doubt that he would accept the chance to make the move. He was respectful to Arsenal and he is happy in London so if the switch does not take place he will be happy to carry on, but if it becomes a straight pick between Arsenal or Barcelona he will opt for the latter.

He also has the advantage of knowing that he will not have to ‘win’ his place in the team; it will be wrapped in ‘Blau’ and ‘Grana’ ribbons and presented to him on a silver platter – Barça don’t have a right-back. Aleix Vidal is half right-winger, half out-of-his depth at a big club where the demands on professionalism and consistency are incredibly high. And Sergio Roberto is a midfielder who Valverde wants playing in midfield.

That’s why Bellerin is Barcelona’s priority this summer and it’s why, if the money is right, they will get their man. After a season stumbling around second best to Real Madrid, they can’t afford not to.