Sevilla paper reports Villarreal wants offers for Alfonso Pedraza

Sevilla sports paper Estadio Deportivo is reporting that Villarreal has told Alfonso Pedraza he is not in their plans for next season.

In reality, Villarreal has little choice. Pedraza went on loan to Real Betis with a purchase option of €10m plus another four in variables, and the Seville club has said it won’t pay that for him—while his Villarreal contract expires at the end of this season, and Pedraza has made it clear he doesn’t want to extend it.

I think he’s an excellent option for us at left back but he isn’t so good that we’re going to play him for a year instead of someone else if at the end of that year he leaves on a free anyhow.

Pedraza has made clear he doesn’t want to play for Villarreal again; in fact, he had hoped to stay with Betis. It’s possible Betis and Villarreal could negotiate for a lower purchase price, it’s also possible another club from La Liga or from another league could step in for him. There were some rumors of a Bundesliga club being interested.

It is unfortunate that he won’t return to play a part in our squad, because he offers a lot in terms of ball interception and tackling, and the guy is just a tank—he adds a lot of physicality. However, for someone who gets forward as much as he, seven goals over three Primera seasons (3 for Alavés, 3 for Villarreal, 1 for Betis) isn’t much of a return.

Frankly, I expect if Villarreal can get €5-7m plus some sort of sell-on clause or a few million in variables, that’s the best we can realistically hope for. Once a player has made it clear he wants to leave, you end up selling under market (see Torres, Ferran).