News surfaced this week that 19-year-old right-back Héctor Bellerín has agreed to a contract extension with Arsenal.  Gunners manager Arsene Wenger confirmed this rumor during his customary Friday press conference.  The deal is expected to keep the young Spaniard at the north London club until the summer of 2019.

Arsenal fans will surely be pleased upon hearing of the new agreement with Bellerín, as the youngster has been an outstanding surprise this season filling in for the injured Mathieu Debuchy.  Bellerín, who transferred from Barcelona to the Gunners in the summer of 2011, has been the usual starter at right-back (over Calum Chambers) since Debuchy went down with a long-term injury in January.

While many assumed that Chambers would be the one to step up in Debuchy’s absence, Bellerín has done an excellent job on the right side of the Arsenal defense.  The U-19 Spain international has the pace to hang with any winger/forward in the Premier League (he even reportedly outran speedster Theo Walcott earlier in the season) and provides the Gunner offense with adequate support going forward into the opponents’ territory.

Bellerín’s gusto going forward was echoed in a recent interview with his club.  The youngster stated, “I really like players like Pablo Zabaleta, I think he’s a really complete player when he’s attacking and defending.  Also Cafu, who was an attacking right back as well, Dani Alves too — they’re the players that I can try to get the techniques and the positioning from.”

One most likely consequence of a potential fresh contract for Bellerín is that Carl Jenkinson, currently on loan at fellow London-based club West Ham, will almost certainly be sold during the summer transfer period.

The Hammers are reportedly keen on signing Jenkinson following the 23-year-old’s successful campaign at Upton Park this season. Reports surfaced earlier in the week that Arsenal are looking for a £10 million transfer fee for Jenkinson’s services.

Although Jenkinson is somewhat of a fan favorite at Arsenal, the Gunners currently have three right-backs (Chambers, Debuchy, and now possibly Bellerín) tied down to long-term contracts with the club.

With normal starter Debuchy turning 30 this summer, and Chambers’s lack of pace being exposed at the right-back position earlier in the season, it is Bellerín that looks set to be Arsenal’s right-back of the future.

Follow this weekend’s match with World Soccer Talk & INPLAY

Whether you’re following this weekend’s match live in the stadium, watching it in the pub or following it on your phone, INPLAY makes your football experience better.

INPLAY is a fantastic new social messaging app with a unique football twist – think WhatsApp for football – that allows you to interact with friends and like-minded supporters (with private chats and open groups) and the option to share images and videos via your phone.

You also get access to the latest football stories, filtered and personalized based on your preferences (favorite team, location, interests) right at your fingertips.

There’s a lot more to the app that’s best experienced rather than explained, so go ahead and click here to download the app for FREE on iPhone or Android.

Join World Soccer Talk @ INPLAY

World Soccer Talk will be covering the game live through INPLAY this weekend. Make sure to download and sign up to the INPLAY app and the use this HUXZN to join the World Soccer Talk chatroom. We will have all the stats, news updates and much more for you through INPLAY and here on World Soccer Talk.

Click here to download the app for FREE on iPhone or Android.

Get started now and don’t forget to launch the app for in-match discussion during this weekend’s games!