Real Betis declined to sell Abde Ezzalzouli, better known as Ez Abde, on the last day of the transfer window, as revealed by Ángel Haro, the club’s president.
The Béticos are said to need a good sale to get their budget in order, but they refused the transfer offer because it was too low in their eyes. This had the knock-on effect that FC Barcelona missed out on a nice chunk of cash coming their way due to their 20% sell-on clause.
According to Haro, Betis were not willing to sell late in the window
for an offer too far below Abde’s release clause, which is €60 million. If they found a buyer at that price, Barça would get €12 million. Born in Morocco, the winger spent time at Barcelona Atlètic before joining the first team. He was then loaned to Osasuna and subsequently sold to Betis for €7.5 million.
“We would have liked a few more departures, but when they say they aren’t leaving, they aren’t leaving. You have to understand that they have contracts. We should have made a major sale to balance the books. Betis has ordinary expenses—specifically squad costs—that ordinary revenue alone cannot cover. We need capital gains—not just sales—to balance the books if we want to maintain this squad, rather than just fighting for a spot between 8th and 15th place,” the club’s president said.
“A great opportunity arose to sell Ez Abde on the last day of the transfer window, but we asked for the buyout clause, it didn’t materialize, and we decided to keep the squad. We believe we have a better team than last year.”
Haro said that the team stuck with Abde despite an offer because they could use him during a year in which they play the UEFA Champions League, noting that if the winger has a great season, it will be a great decision to have kept him and will increase future offers.
