They are only Sergi Altimira and the youth squad Mateo Flores. These are the only two midfielders that Manuel Pellegrini has available for the match that Real Betis will play this coming Saturday in Mestalla against Valencia CF, on matchday 14 of LaLiga. Beyond these two footballers, the Chilean only has the option of delay Pablo Fornals or Giovani Lo Celso -the man from Rosario played as ‘5’ for PSG and in the match against Celta he played there for the last half hour- or continue using reserve team players like Carlos Guirao or Dani Pérez. Injuries, in addition to being inopportune, are extremely capricious. The current plague has led to the elimination of core personnel and, although the message that the club transmits is one of “austerity, search for capital gains and a lot of talent”, CEO Ramón Alarcón admitted that “something will have to be done” in the January market. In this context, in the last few hours an option that was already considered on the last day of the summer market has taken shape again: that of Arthur Meloa Brazilian from Juventus FC who knows the Spanish championship from his brief time at FC Barcelona.
The plague of Betis injuries and the handicap with Dani Ceballos
Johnny Cardoso has been the last to fallalthough it is expected that his femoral biceps injury will not take him away from the playing fields for more than three or four weeks. The big problem is that the injury he suffered in the United States training camp joins the indefinite leave of Marc Rocawho is undergoing stem cell treatment to see if he can find the key to his worrying and persistent ankle problems, and at long-term absence of William Carvalhowho, although he is cutting deadlines after rupturing his Achilles tendon, will not return before the end of February or beginning of March. To these three absences we could add the case of Isco Alarconwhich six months later he finally touches the ball and hopes to be ready by the end of 2024.
Apart from listing the tenants of the crowded infirmary (also Bellerín, Diego Llorente and Nobel Mendy), it is pertinent to remember that in Pellegrini’s eyes the summer planning lacked a midfielder. They are well known numerous attempts to repatriate Dani Ceballoswith the claim of Joaquín Sánchezwho already said that he went to the Utrerano’s house many times but in the end it was not possible, given that Betis had decided to bet on the return of Lo Celso and there was no money for both of them. In addition, Real Madrid decided not to sign a replacement for the retired Toni Kroos and, although the portuense left the door open a few days ago to try again in January, the plague of injuries for the whites and the tight Green and White economy invite call that scenario unlikely.
New contacts between Betis and Arthur Melo, eager to leave Juventus
In the midst of this context, information published by the newspaper Mark informs that Arthur Melo is looking like crazy for an exit from Juventuswhere nothing counts, and which has already maintained several informal contacts with Real Betis. The 28-year-old Brazilian midfielder has a contract with the ‘bianconero’ club and has a contract until 2026, but exercises individually apart from the rest of the group and He hasn’t played a single minute so far in 24/25. since he returned from being on loan at ACF Fiorentina last year. What’s more, he hasn’t even entered a call. The same news assures that there are many teams that have asked about him for this January (especially from Brazil and Saudi Arabia), but the most insistent are Betis themselves and the Olympique de Marseillewhich also tested him last summer.
According to the specialized portal of Capology, Arthur’s annual salary is around 3.2 million eurosso a priori it would not be unreasonable for Betis to assume half of his salary for a loan until the end of the year (at the very least, it would be easier to balance than Ceballos). Of course, it is expected that ‘Juve’ will make things easier for him to leave. It already did it in the summer, but then none of the routes that were opened came to fruition. It sounded close to the English Everton, the Italian Naples and the aforementioned French OM; but it didn’t happen. Nor did it get worse score from Heliopolis when they saw that Ceballos’ thing was falling and Lo Celso’s thing was complicated. “We believe that there is enough staff to achieve the objectives, but some circumstances have occurred (injuries) and we will have to act accordingly,” explained Ramón Alarcón last Friday in a meeting with the media that he attended. Sports STADIUM.
““When January comes, we’ll see what happens.”added the CEO of Betis, asked about the meagerness of the salary limit set by LaLiga: the current margin is 109 million and 106.8 million have been spent, so in principle it will be necessary to look for some way out that would free up mass if the decision is made. to close a signing. “We work with several open lines to study if the team can be reinforced“Well, we have to maintain that balance between sporting and economic performance,” he continued, insisting on the necessary message of austerity but also remembering that it is budgeted to finish in the European zone in LaLiga and reach at least the semifinals of the Conference League.