The Franco-Algerian central, who fulfills a contract on June 30, would have an agreement with the ‘submarine’ for four seasons
Lto stage of Aïssa Mandi in the Betis comes to an end. After five seasons and lengthy negotiations in search of his renewal, the Franco-Algerian center-back prepares his departure for the Villarreal, whose interest in the international defender advanced The Mediterranean Newspaper last April 23 and where everything indicates that he will play the next four seasons.
If confirmed, the stay at the Benito Villamarin of a footballer highly valued by all the coaches who have spent these years at the club, whose level of play has grown considerably and whose regularity has allowed him to become the second foreigner with the most official matches played in the history of the Verdiblanco club . Denilson, who could have surpassed next season, will continue to maintain this record.
The imminent departure of Mandi, in addition to forcing the Betis To go to the market to reinforce their defense, it will prevent the Verdiblanco team from maintaining their announced intention of generating capital gains with the footballers who leave their squad. Something due, in this case, to conversations that have been prolonged in excess of time that have not ended up bearing fruit in an agreement.
Negotiations lasting almost two years
The first time the Betis got in touch with Aïssa to sit down to negotiate its renovation was almost two years ago. A change of agents initially delayed a negotiation that was later interrupted by the footballer himself due to his desire to fully assess his future, taking an interest in numerous details of the sporting project. Although the main stumbling block has ended up being the economic aspect.
The demands of Mandi, in which logically he took into account his status as the undisputed starter, his salary compared to that of other players in the squad with much less prominence and the possibility he had of leaving with the freedom letter under his arm on June 30 , have not been attended by the Betis, in whose battered economy a contract like the one requested by the Franco-Algerian did not currently fit.
A) Yes, Aïssa will put an end to a stage that started in the summer of 2016, when Betis, led by Miguel Torrecilla, disbursed 2.8 million euros for his signing, and in which his main sporting achievement, which seeks to repeat this year, was qualification to play European competitions in the 2017-18 season, with Quique Setien on the bench, one of the coaches who did not hesitate to publicly highlight the professionalism of the Franco-Algerian.
A question to be solved
With the foreseeable departure of Mandi, opens an important question at the sporting level. Once revealed that the club he seems to have opted for Mandi is none other than him Villarreal, direct rival of Betis in the fight for one of the places that give access to next season’s European competitions, it will be necessary to see if Pellegrini continues to count on him as the undisputed starter or prefers to give way to players like Bartra in the remainder of the League.
