The 23-year-old Bellerín has a keen interest in art and fashion, appearing at London Fashion Week and being given a painting of himself by the London artist Endless. Find out more about the man in the mask at the bottom of the story

Brexit, Catalonia, the environment, family, love, tactics, Barcelona, Wenger, Emery, succession, online abuse, racism and homophobia all bubble up during three hours with the remarkable Héctor Bellerín. Our first chat was at his home in London over the summer, the second at a restaurant in Marylebone. I’m not sure I have had a more engaging conversation with a sportsman.

“I was invited to the Oxford Union over the summer to do a question and answer with students and I loved it,” he says. “When you do a football interview it is very easy to stick to a formula: ‘We played really well’; ‘Winning is the most important thing’; ‘The three points are the key.’

“But the questions from students were wider. About Brexit, coping with