The latest on Arsenal defender Héctor Bellerín

Arsenal’s first choice right back Héctor Bellerín picked up a pretty scary-sounding concussion in last weekend’s loss to Chelsea. He had to leave the match after playing just 17 minutes and reportedly did not even realize Chelsea had already scored at the time.

So it’s nice to hear, from the official Arsenal website, that his recovery from this injury is apparently progressing well. Per the site, “Our Spanish right back is now in the final stages of the FA return to play protocol for concussion. He has had daily assessments and successfully completed each step of the graded progression so far.”

Of course, concussions are really tricky, recovery-wise. Just because Bellerín has been progressing well so far does not mean we should expect to see him play against Hull City this weekend. And given how damaging concussions can be in the long-term, the club ought to ease him back as carefully as possible.

If Bellerín is in fact out this weekend, Wenger will likely turn to Gabriel as his replacement. Which is a pretty big drop off talent wise, but again, in the scheme of things Bellerín’s health should be the number one priority.