Real Betis operated stealthily in this summer’s transfer window, similarly to their behaviour last summer which allowed them to seize the services of William Carvalho late on, and this year they tried to land Juventus’ Emre Can.
Carvalho became available due to the chaos that engulfed Sporting Clube a year ago, and this summer they managed to sign Nabil Fekir from Lyon, after he had come close to joining Liverpool a year ago.
With Betis in Europe again this year, they worked for weeks on signing Can to come in as a high-level pivot. Radio MARCA Seville revealed that the German midfielder was their chosen one, as his situation in Turin took a 180-degree turn after Maurizio Sarri’s arrival.
The Andalusians contacted his representatives in the same way they have gone about other big moves lately, and tried until the minute the window closed to bring the former Bayern Munich and Liverpool player to the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
?Disappointed with Sarri
Can has been linked with a number of clubs since Sarri landed at Juventus, notably Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
But the biggest sign that he needed to move on came when it was too late. Juventus’ Champions League squad was announced and, to his surprise, he was omitted.
“If I’d known before, I wouldn’t have stayed at Juventus,” he said.
“The situation angers and disappoints me.
“I want to play in the Champions League.”
It wasn’t to be for Betis in the summer, but they may well return in January.
