Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre has hailed Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin as a "great player," and revealed the reasons behind the former La Masia product's exit from the Catalan club.
With Brazilian Dani Alves firmly established in the Barcelona XI, and the promise of more opportunity at the Premier League club, Bellerin left Barcelona at age 16 in the summer of 2011.
Since, the 21-year-old has become a Spain international and a fixture in Arsene Wenger's teams -- a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by Mestre, who could be keen to bring him back someday.
"We've already seen him as a Cule [Barcelona follower]," Mestre said. "He's a great player, there's no doubt about that.
"Wenger convinced him to move and promised him something which we couldn't.
"We could not promise him that within two years he would be playing in Dani Alves' place."
A number of Barcelona youth products matured at other clubs before returning to the Camp Nou. And Mastre believes the time away has been a positive for his club in these instances.
"In many cases it's good that they leave to develop as players and then return [with that experience]," Mestre added.
"Look at the cases of Cesc, [Gerard] Pique, [Jordi] Alba and Denis Suarez ... I hope the same thing will happen with [Sergi] Samper too.
"It's positive that [these players] get minutes at other clubs. It is a dynamic which has always provided good results for players that carry the Barca DNA in their blood."