FLIPPING HEC

Bellerin: As a young player I got much too interested in money, drinking and girls.. but ’big brother’ Mikel turned my life around

HECTOR BELLERIN has revealed how “big brother” Mikel Arteta helped turn his Arsenal career around.

Bellerin admits Arteta was a huge influence on him as a young player and then gave him the “great honour” of making him vice-captain.

In a new documentary on his Youtube channel entitled Unseen Journey, Bellerin,

25, opens up on his time at Arsenal and , in particular, his recovery from a year-long absence with a career-threatening knee injury.

Bellerin could have easily left last summer when there was interest in signing him from abroad.

But the Spain fullback said: “I’d only been at Arsenal for a couple of years. Mikel was one of the captains in the dressing room and was part of this Spanish speaking group that we had, and he really did look after me.

“When I was young, I was a bit naughty, started getting money, started meeting girls, started going out – all these things that everyone does at that age.

“But not everyone has the responsibility I had – starting to play for Arsenal’s first team.

“He was like a big brother. When I did something wrong, he looked at me and I was like, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t have done that’. Sometimes you need people to be honest with you.”

Bellerin has skippered Arsenal in Pierre-emerick Aubameyang’s absence (against Chelsea last month, circle above) and said:

“It ’s a n a b s o l u t e honour, I feel so lucky when I put this armband on.

It gives me goosebumps every time I get to wear it.”

Bellerin also gives a fascinating insight into going off the rails during his rehab after damaging cruciate ligaments in January

2019 (circle below).

“I spent too much time with my friends, going out, drinkin g , because you can’t do this when you’re playing,” h e said. “I was not mentally in the best place. I wasn’t me because I didn’t have football. I defaulted to those things – going out, drinking, not taking care of myself as I should.

“Barry, one of the conditioning coaches, said to me: ‘Hector, I know what you’re doing. I know you tell me you go for a drink, only have one beer, but I know what you’re doing. This is not the way you’re going to get better’.

“He opened my eyes, and since that day, I was like, ‘Hector, what the f**k are you doing, get your s**t together’.

“It took him to tell me to be the best I could be. You can do the exercise and the tablets, but it’s also about the other 18 hours at the training ground.”

Hector Bellerin says he owes a debt to Mikel Arteta for being such a big influence