OFFICIAL! Héctor Bellerín leaves Barça and signs for Sporting Lisboa

The FC Barcelona consummated this Tuesday his third drop of the 2022/23 with the exit of Héctor Bellerín. The side, separated of the announcement for the party of the Wednesday in front of the Betis, travelled to Lisbon to sign with the Sporting Clube by two seasons and average, until the summer of 2025. The operation closed after the traspaso of Pedro Porro to the Tottenham by 45 million euros.

Agreement for the traspaso of @HectorBellerin to the Sporting Clube of Portugal

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_is) January 31, 2023

This was confirmed by the club in its official statement: "FC Barcelona and Sporting Clube de Portugal have reached an agreement for the transfer of the player Héctor Bellerín. The club publicly expresses its gratitude to Bellerín for his commitment and dedication and wishes him good luck and achievements in the future". The academy player returned last summer at 'zero cost', but was unable to establish himself in the first team.

In total, the 27-year-old defender barely saw action in 7 games in 2022/23 (494 minutes) without goals or assists. His arrival took place at the end of the summer market and, five months later, he changes scenery again at the end of the winter pass window. The one from Badalona had signed for one season and his renewal was ruled out, so the transfer ended up leaving both parties satisfied.

As a culé, Bellerín only saw action as a starter in one LaLiga match, his debut against Cádiz (0-4). After that he only had a couple of residual appearances in the tournament against Elche and Villarreal, due to a muscle injury. After the World Cup, his appearances were limited to Cup games against Intercity and Ceuta, while in the Champions League he had played 90 minutes in the last two games (Bayern and Viktoria Plzen), already with the team eliminated. At Sporting CP, the winger will seek to recover the continuity that he never won as a culé.

Bellerín will leave money in the box

Although his time in sports was inconsequential, the positive thing with the defender will be that he will leave money in the box, after arriving with a letter of freedom. The official amount of his transfer remains to be known, but it is around 2 million euros (including variables). Héctor had left La Masia in 2011 to go to Arsenal in exchange for 500,000 euros. He was with the 'gunners' until 2021, when he was loaned to Betis for a year.

With his departure, Barça is left with Sergi Roberto as the only option for the right-back, in addition to Jules Koundé and Ronald Araújo, who have alternated the position throughout the season. The Frenchman seems more established by the band, so the 'charrúa' will continue to be the leader of the defense as the first central defender along with Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Eric García. On the left, Alejandro Balde and Jordi Alba give Xavi Hernández more peace of mind. Both Balde and Alonso can also play with a changed profile, in case of emergencies in the right-handed lane.