Alfonso Pedraza goes to Betis on loan

Alfonso Pedraza will not be playing for Villarreal next season. He is being loaned to Real Betis, who will pay us between €0.5-1m for his services. There is a purchase option in the €10-14m range, but it is not mandatory.

Pedraza has been with Villarreal since age 15 and was expected to be one of our prime examples of a cantera player rising up the ranks, developing on loan elsewhere for a year or two, and then becoming a regular piece of our team.

He scored three goals for us last season, including a last-gasp one against Levante at home to earn us a draw. But he often seemed to be a player we couldn’t find the right position for: not a true winger, not a fullback, not an attacking midfielder in our system either.

My guess is that he let Villarreal know he was not willing to sign an extension to his contract (which expires in 2021) so the front office decided to loan him in the hope that he will get enough playing time that either Betis will pick up the option to purchase or someone else will. Eintracht Frankfurt had been interested but were not willing to meet the purchase price Villarreal had demanded.