Barcelona defender tells club he wants new contract

Barcelona have two right-backs in their squad currently, but there is still plenty of uncertainty over the position as both of them are out of contract over the summer.

Sergi Roberto has been injured more often than not over the last 18 months but signed a cut-price deal to remain in Barcelona. Meanwhile Hector Bellerin was signed on a free on the final day of the transfer window, as the club looked to give Xavi Hernandez depth.

He was only signed on a one-year deal, but the 27-year-old is keen to stay in Catalonia though.

“I want to renew with Barça, I’m happy here and I want to continue for longer,” he told Catalunya Radio during the week, as quoted by Diario AS.

Whether he is given the chance to is another matter. So far Bellerin’s performances, admittedly infrequent due to fitness issue, have been underwhelming at Camp Nou. A sign of that was the fact that Alejandro Balde started instead of him against Almeria on Saturday night, despite it not being his natural side of the pitch.

Bellerin also explained that Xavi must be given time to pull together a squad that underwent significant upheaval in the summer.

“Football is neither black nor white, there are many aspects and situations that can affect a team and that are reflected in the result. The team signed a lot of players this summer, we’re also having a lot of injuries and a project like this needs time to start getting results.”

“I always give the example of Klopp with Liverpool and Guardiola with City. They did not win when they arrived at their teams in England and in the end, they have built two winning projects. In the team we have enthusiasm and doing things well takes time. We trust Xavi 100%, he is the ideal coach for Barça.”

If Bellerin’s analysis is sound, then perhaps Xavi’s issue is that Barcelona are likely to face further upheaval in the coming transfer windows. The current board are attempting to revamp a squad that had not been dramatically altered for several years on a budget, which is not an easy or quick process.

Tags Barcelona Hector Bellerin

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