Arsenal transfer news: Gunners face Hector Bellerin battle with Barcelona as Dani Alves nears Juventus move

Arsenal face the prospect of another summer battling with Barcelona after the Spanish champions identified their academy product Hector Bellerin as the ideal replacement for Dani Alves, who is poised to leave the club on a free transfer to join Italian side Juventus.

Alves is contracted to the Catalan side until the end of next season, but the 33-year-old has a clause that allows him to leave the La Liga side for nothing this summer should he wish to do so. Reports in Spain claim that the Brazil defender has already verbally agreed to join the Serie A champions with a three-year deal on the table.

Having been Barcelona’s established right-back since his arrival from Sevilla in 2008, his potential exit will leave the club facing the prospect of filling an area they have not had to worry about for a number of years. Aleix Vidal was brought in last summer – also from Sevilla – to provide competition for Alves after he hinted at leaving, only to sign a new contract through to the summer of 2017.

Vidal has struggled to settle in Barcelona though given both he and fellow summer signing Arda Turan were ineligible to play for the club until January due to their transfer embargo, and manager Luis Enrique is said to have doubts over Vidal’s suitability as his first-choice right-back.

It has led to the club targeting Arsenal’s Bellerin, with the Spaniard leaving Barcelona’s academy in 2011 to join the Gunners. After impressing on a loan spell with Watford, Bellerin’s rapid rise saw him oust Mathieu Debuchy, Carl Jenkinson and Calum Chambers in Arsene Wenger’s pecking order, and seize the right-back slot for himself last season despite being just 19 years old when he made his senior debut.

His form has caught the eye of Barcelona, and with the club moving for Cesc Fabregas in 2011 – eight years after leaving them – Arsenal fans will be fearful of a repeat scenario where Bellerin expresses a desire to return to his hometown club. The 21-year-old is highly rated by Wenger given that he Frenchman can take credit for bringing him through the ranks, and he played in 36 of Arsenal’s 38 Premier League matches this season having grown into one of the first names on the team sheet.

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While Alves appears to be heading to Juventus, reports suggesting that his Barcelona team-mate, Javier Mascherano, will join him have been played down. Mascherano remains contracted to the Spanish club, who have no intention of letting the Argentina international leave, and another expected change to Barcelona’s defensive line-up has fallen through after the move for young Colombia defender Davinson Sanchez collapsed due to his preference to play in the first team.

According to his agent, Nestor Villarreal, Davinson did not want to play in the Barcelona B team, and decided against a move to the Nou Camp despite a €3.5m [£2.8m] agreement in place with his current club Atletico Nacional.