Arsenal are now open to offers for Hector Bellerin after the defender held talks with Arsene Wenger about joining Barcelona, according to reports in Spain.
Sport claim that a conversation between Bellerin and Wenger has ‘changed the situation’ and Arsenal have relaxed their stance over the 22-year-old.
Arsenal were initially refusing to entertain bids from Barcelona for the right-back, but the Spanish club have now been given encouragement to make their first offer.
Barcelona will test the water with a €30 million (£26.3m) bid, which will also be topped up with add-ons.
Arsenal, however, remain in a strong position as Bellerin signed a new contract in November which keeps him tied to the club until 2023.
Last month, reports in Spain claimed that Bellerin had already agreed to return to Camp Nou but Barcelona were struggling to make a breakthrough in talks with Arsenal.
Bellerin, meanwhile, has already admitted that he is open to joining Barcelona after leaving the club when he was 16.
‘I was lucky enough to take a chance on Arsenal. Things have gone well and now hearing this type of news about Barca is something which makes me happy, but it doesn’t depend on me,’ the Spaniard told Mundo Deportivo.
‘It’s nice to know of interest from a club like Barca, the club where I grew up from a young age.’
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