Arsenal Transfer News: Juventus Reportedly Make Contact with Hector Bellerin

Juventus have reportedly made contact with Hector Bellerin's entourage to sound him out for a move. 

According to TuttoMercatoWeb's Raimondo De Magistris (h/t the Mirror), the Bianconeri are interested in the Arsenal right-back and touched base with his camp to see if he would be open to replacing Dani Alves in Turin.

The Brazilian left for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer after just one season, leaving Juve with 33-year-old Stephan Lichtsteiner as their first-choice right-back.

Their other option has been to use midfielder Stefano Sturaro there, but that hasn't been an effective tactic, as Bleacher Report's Adam Digby noted:

That's where Bellerin could come in. The 22-year-old—who has been moved to right wing-back since Arsenal's switch to a back three—perhaps hasn't quite kicked on as predicted in the last year, but he remains an exciting prospect with plenty of potential.

While Arsenal haven't been particularly impressive this season, Bellerin has been putting in some stronger performances of late.

Football writer Phil Costa and James Benge of the Evening Standard hailed his return to form earlier in the campaign:

The youngster is excellent getting forward, aided by his blistering pace, and he laid on five assists in all competitions last season.

Though there's still room for him to improve defensively, he's come a long way since he first broke into the side, and in Turin he could perhaps develop that side of his game even further.

Juve can offer a much stronger chance of winning major silverware than Arsenal, having won Serie A six years running and made the UEFA Champions League final twice in the last three years, so they may prove tempting.

He's a key player, and the Gunners only have the likes of Mathieu Debuchy and Ainsley Maitland-Niles in reserve, though, so it's unlikely they would consider letting him go, particularly in January.

The summer would give Arsenal a better chance of securing a replacement, but with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil looking likely to leave by then, allowing another top asset to depart would only create more headaches for the club.