Arsenal Star Admits Abuse From Fans Made Him Quit Social Media

By The Editor
on 7th September 2018

Hector Bellerin reveals all in telling interview and touches on his relationship with the fans…

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Arsenal star Hector Bellerin admitted that abuse from fans made him quit social media for a while in an interview which exposed the vulnerability of a professional footballer, The Times reports.

Bellerin has long been prepared to discuss social issues and expand his horizon beyond football, as evident through his Oxford Union speech, and in this interview, he opened up about his relationship with the fans.

A product of our youth academy after arriving at the age of 15 from Barcelona, Bellerin broke into the first-team in 2015 and has never looked back.

He instantly displaced Mathieu Debuchy as our first choice right-back and was a fans’ favourite, showing pace and attacking verve down the right.

However, he has stagnated over the past 18-24 months and the supporters have let him know that – which culminated in those infamous chants at Selhurst Park in 2017.

It seems his off-field endeavours have irritated fans more and Bellerin hasn’t been shy to make it clear that his interests go beyond the football pitch – not a smart thing to say when you’re not performing on the pitch.

Having said that, some of the abuse has gone beyond reason and Bellerin revealed that he had to come off social media for a period of time.

“It can be a blessing and a curse,” the Catalan-born right-back said about social media.

“When I first came into the ranks at Arsenal, the expectations were very low so people were often impressed when I played well. But then, when I played badly, the stick got crazy.

“The worst was a year and a half ago. A lot of people say nice things but it is natural to focus on the bad. For a while, I deleted the apps. Later, I decided to go back on. Twitter is a great source of information. Every day I am learning to deal with abuse in a better way.”