Barcelona offload Bellerin to Sporting, Porro to Spurs

Carlo Garganese

• 29 Jan 2023 15:00 CST
• 3 min read

Hector Bellerin is set to join Sporting Lisbon on loan for the rest of the season, according to The Athletic.

This temporary transfer will then open the door for Spurs to complete the signing of current Sporting right-back Pedro Porro in a big-money deal.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that Sporting are in advanced negotiations to take Bellerin to Lisbon.

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Sporting had initially wanted to sign Tariq Lamptey from Brighton to replace Porro but could not afford him.

They thus moved for Bellerin instead and Barcelona were happy to let him go.

Bellerin is a former Barcelona youth team player, who returned to Camp Nou last summer on a free transfer after 11 years away.

The defender signed a one-year contract after his deal at Arsenal expired at the end of last season.

However, Bellerin has been a huge flop so far.

He suffered from a muscle injury in the early part of the season, missing almost a month of action between September and October.

Upon his return, he was a major disappointment. He struggled badly in the 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich and in the 4-2 win over Viktoria Plzen.

This cost him his chance of ever winning over manager Xavi, who informed the club to let him go this month.

Bellerin in decline

Bellerin’s career has declined in recent years. He was regarded as one of the most exciting young right-backs in the world during his early days at the Emirates.

However, partly due to a number of injuries, he failed to live up his promise.

He spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Real Betis, but didn’t join them permanently.

Bellerin has been capped four times by Spain.