Barcelona legend Xavi insists he would not re-sign former La Masia student Hector Bellerin from Arsenal .
The defender left the Spanish side for the Gunners as a 16-year-old in 2011 and has established himself as one of the best right-backs in the Premier League.
That has led to links that Barcelona are interested in re-signing their former charge, as new boss Ernesto Valverde looks to reshape his side.
But former Nou Camp great Xavi insists he would not been keen on bringing Bellerin back.
“I haven’t seen him play a lot, but I’ll tell you something, it’s difficult for me to accept signing a player we already had,” he told Spanish outlet Sport.
Although the Catalans had success in re-signing the likes of Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas, the former Spain skipper is still not keen.
“Yes, it can work out or not. But I would not sign players who leave. Why are they leaving at 16 or 17? It’s baffling to be. I don’t understand it.
“You were here, you wanted to leave, then you don’t come back.”
Xavi came up through the ranks at Barcelona and would make more than 500 appearances for the first-team, becoming one of their greatest-ever players before he left for Al Sadd in 2015.
And he inists that the club must continue to draw on their La Masia academy.
“Barcelona needs to nurture itself on homegrown players. They can’t leave like this.”
Bellerin was a part of the Spain team that lost in the final to Germany in this summer’s European Under-21 Championship and was therefore not named as part of the Arsenal squad that have travelled to Australia for their pre-season tour.
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