In January, Real Betis manager Pep Mel confirmed that prized playmaker Beñat Extebarria - allegedly one of Brendan Rodgers's 'favourite' players - has a €20m release clause in his contract, and insisted the Spaniard would not leave for anything less than that amount. Negotiations over a new deal are ongoing, but in a recent interview, Beñat suggested that he's open to leaving in the summer.
Speaking to Reporters in February, the 26-year old playmaker confirmed that he'd rejected Betis' contract renewal offer, and revealed that talks would continue in March. He added:
“The club has now had more time, and we have waited. I would like to close talks on a new contract or arrange to leave before June"
Beñat also revealed that the unresolved transfer situation is having a negative impact on his form:
"It's not going well for me. Physically I am fine. The legs respond, but what is not responding are the correct passes. The anxiety is taking its toll. I notice the murmurings of the crowd, but I try to stay focused.”
With no goals and only three assists in his last thirteen games for Betis, Beñat's form has clearly suffered, but the team has, nevertheless, risen up the league in that time, and is currently sixth in the table.
In January, Betis manager Pepe Mel told Sky Sports:
"Beñat's clause is €20million and he will only leave for €20million. To sell him for anything less would be a disaster. The only number is €20million. He has one more year left on his contract and he can fulfill that."
Real Betis majority shareholder Bosch Valero recently confirmed that the Spanish star could be on his way out of the club. He told Reporters:
“We do not rule out the possibility that Beñat could leave. Contract negotiations are ongoing, but there is no progress or agreement from both sides. Wolfsburg offered more than €10 million for him, but we decided that it was not a good time to sell him".
Betis are currently battling against administration, which could ultimately force the club to cash-in on their prized asset. If Beñat's contract situation is not resolved, he'll be a wanted man this summer. Should Liverpool test Betis' resolve with a summer bid...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Speaking to Reporters in February, the 26-year old playmaker confirmed that he'd rejected Betis' contract renewal offer, and revealed that talks would continue in March. He added:
“The club has now had more time, and we have waited. I would like to close talks on a new contract or arrange to leave before June"
Beñat also revealed that the unresolved transfer situation is having a negative impact on his form:
"It's not going well for me. Physically I am fine. The legs respond, but what is not responding are the correct passes. The anxiety is taking its toll. I notice the murmurings of the crowd, but I try to stay focused.”
With no goals and only three assists in his last thirteen games for Betis, Beñat's form has clearly suffered, but the team has, nevertheless, risen up the league in that time, and is currently sixth in the table.
In January, Betis manager Pepe Mel told Sky Sports:
"Beñat's clause is €20million and he will only leave for €20million. To sell him for anything less would be a disaster. The only number is €20million. He has one more year left on his contract and he can fulfill that."
Real Betis majority shareholder Bosch Valero recently confirmed that the Spanish star could be on his way out of the club. He told Reporters:
“We do not rule out the possibility that Beñat could leave. Contract negotiations are ongoing, but there is no progress or agreement from both sides. Wolfsburg offered more than €10 million for him, but we decided that it was not a good time to sell him".
Betis are currently battling against administration, which could ultimately force the club to cash-in on their prized asset. If Beñat's contract situation is not resolved, he'll be a wanted man this summer. Should Liverpool test Betis' resolve with a summer bid...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
i wouldn't give rogers a tin of quality street at Christmas they would all be his favorites and you'd be left with the coffee cremes......seriously how many favorite players can you have rogers seems to have 2 in every club in Europe
ReplyDeletelol you beat me to it sick of rodgers favorites it,s the sweets no one wants half the time
ReplyDeleteHow do we know its one of his 'favourite' players?
ReplyDeletedayjavu from about 4 monthd a go, even your comments, prop just me
ReplyDeleteAnd on another completely Irrelevant not I hate the way the spell check is always in American English where Favourite is apparently spelled wrong :)
ReplyDeleteThere's a link in the article. Plus, note that I use word 'allegedly' (which is also the hyperlink)
ReplyDeleteGood player, but Rodgers need to sign 3new CBs before anything else. But last window both his transfers worked out. So hopefully he can pick up more bargains like coutinho...
ReplyDeleteFair enough but I doubt Rodgers would get him,I think Id still prefer Honda plus hes a free signing
ReplyDeleteAgree - Honda would be an exciting signing :-)
ReplyDeleteSturridge and Coutinho looking good so far, so I think we should trust Brendan.
ReplyDeleteoff-topic, but is there any news about ferdinand? he did an absolutely pathetic and disgraceful trip on torres, picked him up and acted like it was an accident. it's just disgusting. the commentators didn't even react to it much. Nor had the media, nor FA at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe media have reacted to it: The Daily Mail had it as the top sports story this morning, and they took a confrontational approach too: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/index.html
ReplyDeleteAll the major papers have covered the story. It's not a conspiracy to give United an easy ride ;-D
Who's arsed? It was petulant, but it was hardly assault.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it hasn't been picked up much. People need to stop making a massive deal out of every small incident that happens on the pitch. As long as it isn't especially dangerous or especially untoward, just let them get on with it.
I can understand your frustration if it is stemming from the fact it is Ferdinand and no-one cares, whereas if it was Suarez or Terry or even someone who is just not a Man U/England legend/media darling, then it would be treated more seriously.
I think Ferdinand is lucky to escape punishment for the clapping thing and this, but by the same token, whilst both incidents were unedifying, neither were serious in my opinion.
The more we can take the hysteria and hyperbole out of football, the better.
Good. I guess it's harder to find these things when you live in Sydney...
ReplyDeleteExactly. I saw Benat earlier in the season and he looked great, but we can barely fit Allen in the side (great sub by Rodgers yesterday, helped change the game (I'm aware the game was mainly changed by Tottenham's stupidity)) so why bring in another CM?
ReplyDeleteCentre-half is the priority (2 at least, an organiser and a tough guy) and then another player to play on the wing/in a front 3.
Agree with you about Ferdinand though. Hopefully, he'll get charged. I agree with Vermhat that it's not really a big deal, but this is Man Utd we're talking about, and anything that slows them down is good news.
ReplyDeleteWe need to find another Mascherano, some one to protect our back four, a bit of steel to harden our soft center, that's what Rodgers' priority should be in the summer.
ReplyDeleteTwo favourite players in every club in Europe? Then he is closer to Rafa than I had ever thought.
ReplyDeleteSimply install a British English dictionary to your browser (there is one for Firefox).
ReplyDeleteWhat we need is another cameraman with a keen eye to find us another Sami ...... l see the Rodgers bashing has started again .... sigh.
ReplyDeleteplus one........some would have it one touch while wearing slippers...whats even more bizarre is a fan getting his head stoved in outside the ground or a coach getting bricks pelted at it isnt deemed as news worthy as getting your heels clipped on a football pitch
ReplyDeletea centre back is our no 1 priority by some way....
ReplyDeleteThanks I might just do that :D
ReplyDeleteI think it is a big deal. It was massively disrespectful to Torres, and if I were Torres i would have turned around and punched him right through the face. It's a bigger deal than lets say stamping incidents in the heat of the moment. He had a lot of time to process the thought of doing it, and he did. What an outright c***
ReplyDeleteThing is, I like Benat. I think he has what it takes. I just think Xabi Alonso and Yohan Cabaye have it more. So either one of them would be better buys imo.
ReplyDeleteIf you punch a guy in face for kicking you, you sort of lose the moral high ground.
ReplyDeleteYou do however get enormous satisfaction.
I should of added, in the heat of the moment, I would have punched him, but not in reflection. Torres probably didn't know it was deliberate. It was 'only' a kick, but the nature of it is what counts more. Rio then seemed to have a go at Torres, as if he was criticising him for going down too easily, to gain a moral high ground. That's the lowest you can get if that's the case.
ReplyDeleteAs stated by Brian, the BR bashing has begun again. It's all very droll, really. While we are on the topic, here's a bit of info for all the BR doubters out there who say he doesn't have the right "pedigree" to manage LFC. Take a look at the pedigrees of two very successful managers at successful clubs, managers I'm sure the doubters would choose in a heartbeat over BR.
ReplyDeleteJurgen Klopp (Borrussia Dortmund)
- 7 years at Mainz. Led them to promotion, spent 3 yrs in Bundesliga (11th, 11th, 16th), and got relegated.
- Resigns from Mainz after not returning them to Bundesliga in one yr after relegation.
- Signs with Dortmund in 2008. Dortmund finished 13th in 07-08, and Klopp leads them to 6th in 08-09.
- Subsequent finishes: 5th (09-10), 1st (10-11), 1st (11-12).
- Currently 2nd in Bundesliga and into Final 8 in UCL.
Antonio Conte (Juventus)
- Leads Serie B side Arrezo to relegation in 06-07.
- Joins Bari in 07-08. Bari promoted to Serie A after 08-09 season. Conte leaves Bari.
- Joins Atalanta for 09-10 season. Resigns under pressure from 'ultras' with club in 19th place.
- Joins Serie B side Siena for 10-11 season. Guides team to Serie A promotion.
- Joins Juventus for 11-12 season. Juve wins Serie A in an unbeaten season.
- Currently 1st in Serie A and into Final 8 of UCL.
Neither of them managed any "big" clubs or had a particularly strong track record before joining BVB and Juve. Conte was an instant success at Juve but Klopp needed 2 full seasons at Dortmund before making the push for the title which brought him and BVB to everyone's attention. The point is that good managers can and do rise from less known clubs to achieve great things at big clubs. I don't see any reason to believe that BR is not capable of similar feats if afforded the time, money, and support to usher in a new era at Anfield.
Very good comment.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the internet does not have spell check so we have many people posting on blogs and in comments sections that somehow think lose should be spelt loose.
ReplyDeleteVery good post Akula. It is getting very boring listening to the BR bashers. I always find it strange that some fans almost seem happy when we don't do well just so they can come on and slag BR off and say how right they were. Most of the time, it appears as though they believe that they loved Dalglish more then any other fan on the planet and cannot accept that he was replaced by somebody like BR. If they cannot see the progress that BR is making, they are either blind or ignorant to it.
ReplyDeleteVery well said. To be honest I don't get where all this criticism comes from anyway. We've been on our way up since January and no one can deny the signings have played a huge part in that as have BR's handling of underachievers like Downing, Henderson and now Allen. Sure there is still work to be done but that doesn't dismiss the steps already made.
ReplyDeleteWell, those who write blogs and comments can use spell check, if they want to. There are free tools aplenty. (The one I've installed doesn't know too many words and right now suggests that I change "blogs" into "bogs" :-) ).
ReplyDeleteJürgen Klopp is an example I, too, often use. Before we hired Rodgers his name was mentioned on many internet sites by many commentators. Unfortunately many people don't want to know about his not so illustrious past.
ReplyDeleteShankly didn't achieve much before he came to Liverpool, either.
looks like we have agreed to sign Manuel Iturra from Malaga.
ReplyDeleteJamie - Legend - Bid - desist please.
ReplyDelete