Arsenal have been rocked by the news that an unnamed club in Italy is interested in signing Hector Bellerin.
This is a claim from the defender's agent, Alberto Botines, who stopped short of revealing the club in question.
Regarded as a key player for the Gunners in years to come, Bellerin has certainly made the right-back spot his own ever since breaking into the first-team under Arsene Wenger in the 2014/2015 season but it's understood that he could consider his future at the end of the campaign.
"At the moment, he’s focused on the team's commitments," Botines told Sky Sport Italia. "He comes from a bad injury and is returning to his usual level. He likes Italy, there’s already been interest from an Italian club but I can't reveal it.
"He has a long contract and it won’t be easy to take him away from Arsenal, he's their vice-captain.
"We'll see how the season goes."
The good news for the Gunners fans who are desperate to keep hold of Bellerin is that the club will be under no pressure to cash in on the Spaniard next summer even if he pushes for a move.
This is because of the new contract and transfer policy put in place by managing director Vinai Venkatesham and Head of Football Raul Sanllehi in a bid to ensure the club avoid previous mistakes in the market.
Speaking at a fans' forum in March, Sanllehi told supporters that any player who does not renew their contract before they reach the final two years of their deal will be sold.
This has since been backed up by Venkatesham.
"We need to make sure we are really disciplined," he told the club's official website . "A good example of that is senior players that aren’t towards the end of their careers, we need to make sure that those players, when they’ve got two years left on their contract, we’re making the difficult decisions.
"We’re either renewing those players’ contracts, or we’re selling those players.
"So we’re going to have to be brave with those decisions along the way, because we can’t be in a situation where we are allowing players to walk out the door for free unless they are coming towards the end of their career."
If Arsenal are to adhere to that new transfer and contract policy, it means they are facing up to some big decisions involving a number of players in 2020.
As things stand, there are 14 Arsenal players at risk of being sold in 2020 under Sanllehi and Venkatesham's regime.
But Bellerin isn't one of them as his contract at the Emirates Stadium expires in 2023, therefore the club don't have to worry about his future for another 14 months.
