“There was a change of system, I talked to the coach and he explained that with this new system he preferred to play with other players. As a footballer you have to take it and work hard to change his opinion. After injuries and other factors I had the opportunity to be able to return to the team, I worked to the upmost and I could finish the season as I wanted.”
Put to him that an Arsenal exit is a big topic, Bellerin said: “That’s what is being spoken about. You never know what can happen, but I have a contract in force and when I finish my holiday after the Europeans I will have to go back there.”
On a deadline to decide his future, the Arsenal player said: “I signed the new contract at Christmas, the contracts are in charge, although in football you never know what can happen.”
Asked if Arsenal’s failure to qualify for the Champions League is an influence on his future, Bellerin said: “The truth is that all players of the top level want to fight for the Champions League, especially when you’ve been fighting in it for two years. We as a team have not achieved the classification and it is something that we all want to fix, but as a player I repeat that it is an important competition.”
On if he sees a Camp Nou return as possible: “It’s a very nice thing to know about the interest of a club like Barça, the club where I grew up since I was a kid. I don’t know anything at the moment, I’m Arsenal player and we’ll see what happens.”
Straight out asked if he would like a Barcelona return, Bellerin said: “It’s something you don’t think about when you leave, because you don’t know how things are going to go. I was lucky enough to bet on Arsenal, things have gone well and now receiving this kind of news from Barça is something that makes me happy, but that does not just depend on me.”
Asked about his life in London, the fullback’s answer was quite revealing: “I have always been very good, my family settled there with me, although now for family matters they have had to return to Barcelona. Now I have a harder time, because I am a very family orientated person, I depend on them a lot, and it will be a new challenge to be without them.”
Asked if Maresme, where he grew up, is a better place to live than London, Bellerin said: “Of course. Not just for friends and family. The weather is also much better. But I adapt to what I have.”
On the summer and the pressure of potential Barcelona return: “A lot can happen this summer. For now I prefer to focus on the immediate, which is the European Under-21 and then what has to come, will come.
“I try to focus on my work, be focused on football and the other, when it comes, we’ll see.”
Asked about direct contact with Barcelona, Bellerin said: “No, I haven’t talked to anyone. I have not talked to the club, I know there are many things that are being talked about, but as a player the club has not told me anything, there has still been no contact”
