Hector Bellerin is fast. At everything.Along a right flank on football pitches across England, there is nobody faster. Over 40 metres, he holds the record sprint time at Arsenal and is thought to be quicker over that distance than Usain Bolt. In the Premier League, he's gone from second-stringer to member of theProfessional Footballers' Association Team of the Year in 18 months.And now with Spain, well, it's the same story.On Tuesday, Bellerin was included in Vicente del Bosque's 23-man squad for this summer's Euro 2016 tournament. On its own it's a magnificent achievement, but consider this: It was only on Sunday that Bellerin made his international debut againstBosnia and Herzegovina, and at the time he wasn't even in Del Bosque's provisional 25-man squad and was simply covering for absent stars.Fromoutside the provisional squad to inside the final squad in two days: That's how fast Bellerin is.For the Arsenal right-back, the wait between his first cap and his second won't be a long one, either.On Wednesday, Spain take on South Korea in Salzburg, Austria, in the second of their three warm-up matches ahead of the UEFA European Championship, and for the 21-year-old, it will be another chance to impress a manager he hadn't even thought he'd playing for."I had planned a holiday with my family," Bellerin saidafter Spain's 3-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. "But I'm happy to cancel it for the call of the national team."Suddenly, he'll need to find those receipts, because that call has now arrived thanks to a combination of excellence and little lucka theme of Bellerin's rapid rise.Indeed, if there's a feeling of symmetry between the full-back's ascension into the Spain national team and his emergence at Arsenal, it's because that symmetry exists.This opportunity has been awarded to Bellerin because of the injury suffered by Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal, who limped off the San Siro pitch in tears during Saturday's UEFA Champions League final. Right then, heknew."I feel a lot of contained rage," Carvajal toldCadena Cope this week (h/t Reuters)."I fought for two years to try to make the group and I am disappointed with myself for the bad luck I've had.I've worked so hard to be in the preliminary squad and now look what has happened."For Carvajal, it's a crushing blow; for Bellerin, it's a case of right place, right timejust as it was at Arsenal.In the summer of 2014, the Catalan returned to the Emirates Stadium following a loan spell at Watford, and in front of him at right-back were the newly signed pair of Mathieu Debuchy of Calum Chambers. Another loan spell looked likely, but then everything changed.After a bright start, Chambers fell away, the transition to one of England's heavyweights proving problematic. Debuchy was then struck by injury not once but twice, damaging an ankle ligament against Manchester City before suffering a dislocated shoulder against Stoke City.It was Bellerin's chance, and he took it. He hasn't looked back since.In the second half of 2014-15, the Barcelona product was so convincing that by the end of it, he was indisputably Arsene Wenger's first choice at right-back. "He's one of the surprises of the season," said Wenger at a press conference at the time."He's just 20 years old, if you look at what he does at 20 years of age..."What Bellerin does is now not only known to Wenger and Arsenal, most of Europe is aware of it too.In a sparkling 2015-16, Bellerin was one of his club's two standouts alongside Mesut Ozil and has earned a reputation as one of the continent's most dangerous full-backs.In the Premier League, no player at his position made more than his five assists, and according to WhoScored.com, he led all defenders in successful dribbles, storming up the right flank with searing pace and absolute conviction.Bellerin has also displayed impressive durabilityhe started 36 of Arsenal's 38 league gamesand has made immense strides in areas which had once been weaknesses: strength, positioning, tracking runners, ball-winning, discipline.As a skinny kid from Barcelona, the Premier League could have eaten him up, but it hasn't. Instead, he's revelled in it and grown."I left there [Barcelona] as a kid and now I feel like a man," he told Arsenal.com last year. "I've grown up a lot because I left at 16 to come to another country, another culture."Listening to Bellerin speak, it's easy to understand why his development has been so rapid. He's humble, intelligent, self-aware, prepared to work and has embraced London rather than recreating a little Barcelona."When I first came here I didn't speak any English," he said in an interview with Amuse. "It's also a great way to learn the habits of English peopleI had to get used to eating dinner at six sometimes. I really appreciated that."In the same interview, it was also striking how he discussed dealing with life in the spotlight and all it entails. "Well, once I was toldin Spanish, so I'm not sure how it'll translatethat when it comes to critics and fame: chew it, but don't swallow it," he said. "You should always keep yourself grounded, to know where you came from, how you were when you were young and how your family lived before you."More recently, Marca asked him about the decision to move from Barcelona to Arsenal. His response was simple: "I got the chance and I took it."Essentially, Bellerin talks exactly the way plays: always on the front foot and constantly looking forward, while keeping a healthy respect for what's behind him.Behind him now is a magnificent season.Ahead of him is Euro 2016.In France, Bellerin will likely start the tournament behind Atletico Madrid's Juanfran in Del Bosque's plans, but that doesn't mean he won't have an important role to play. Juanfran enters the European Championship on the back of an unrelenting slog of a season in which Atletico fought and scrapped like no other. Amid that, the veteran started 47 games across all competitions, and he will also return to the Spain squad carrying the emotional strain caused by his penalty miss in the Champions League final shootout.Del Bosque, of course, is the fiercely loyal sort and will almost certainly award the 31-year-old the chance to bury those demons. But in Spain's current dynamics, the point of difference Bellerin brings also looks significant. In a team that's likely to feature David Silva cutting inside from the right flank, genuine width will need to come from right-back. Juanfran has shown he has the capacity to provide it, and few players in Spain have been more consistent.Yet Bellerin can add something else to the width: pace, explosiveness, quick feet, unpredictability, the daring attitude of youth.Throughout Spain's glory years between 2008 and 2012, it was often those who brought a point of difference who madethe difference. Could Bellerin be the same'It's possible.On Wednesday, the right-back will get his second chance to impress just three days after his first and just 24 hours after getting the callthe call that's taken him from outside the provisional squad to inside the final squad in two days.Bellerin is fast. At everything.Follow @TimDCollins
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