Barcelona had a very busy final day of the summer transfer window on Friday. As well as signing Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix on loan from Manchester City and Atletico Madrid respectively, they also moved on several first team players.
Ez Abde was the only one of those to leave on a permanent basis. The 21-year-old joined Real Betis for a fee of €7.5m, in what has been seen as a massive coup for the Andalusians. However, Barcelona were annoyed that Abde chose to join Betis, as they had received better offers from clubs in the Premier League. According to RAC1, these were in the region of €20m.
‼️ Explicat #TuDiràs I 🎙️@aleixparise
📌LA SORTIDA D'ERIC GARCIA.
⚽️Xavi l'havia convençut per seguir al Barça.
💵La decisió d'Abde d'anar al Betis (7'5 m) i no a la Premier (20 m), va trastocar els plans del club.
✒️Si Eric no sortia, el Barça no podia inscriure Íñigo. pic.twitter.com/cmxhdQq2IA
— El Barça juga a RAC1 (@FCBRAC1) September 4, 2023
The financial disparity between these offers meant that Barcelona were forced to let Eric Garcia leave on loan, so that they could register new signing Inigo Martinez with LaLiga. The young centre-back joined Girona for the season, despite having been convinced by Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez to remain at the club.
Ultimately, Barcelona can’t have too many complaints about Abde’s decision to leave, nor the destination he chose to go to. Xavi chose not to play him, and the young winger is well within his right to choose his own future.
