Real Betis: Inaccurate New Report and Vincent Janssen Offered

Real Betis: Inaccurate New Report and Vincent Janssen Offered

You'll soon be reading some rubbish from El Confidential that will be regurgitated by our press over Giovani Lo Celso so I thought I'd better get straight in and explain the article.

First, what do they say?

Well, basically they say that Mauricio Pochettino has spoken to Giovani Lo Celso over the phone but that we can only spend €40m (£35.58m - $45.10m) because we have opened an expensive new stadium. That isn't true.

That is merely what we have made as an opening bid in a negotiation and increasing that figure is not dependent upon selling Christian Eriksen, as is claimed

Player purchases are not dependant upon sales. There is money there, but there are players we can upgrade so selling them before we buy is only natural.


Tottenham spoke to Real Betis in January when they looked at bringing in a striker. The names the club were talking about were unrealistic, they wouldn't have been able to afford their wages.

They did speak to Tottenham about taking Dutch striker Vincent Janssen. The clubs spoke several times and after Real Betis had played Espanyol, Daniel Levy personally phoned on 30 January to offer the striker for €12m (£10.71m - $13.44m) plus €1m (£0.89m - $1.12m) for every 10 goals.

The following day Levy sent Janssen to Seville (where Real Betis play) on a private plane but the Spanish rejected the offer feeling he didn't improve what they already had. Did they make the right decision?

Well, Betis finished 10th and didn't qualify for Europe, which reduces club income for the following season and means purse tightening. They were only 3 points adrift of getting into the qualification round of the Europa League.

They scored just 44 goals in 38 LaLiga games.

Coach Quique Setién was informed on 30th Jan that he could not sign a striker and he told the club that they would not qualify for Europe without one with Antonio Sanabria on loan at Italian side Genoa.