Former Barcelona star Ez Abde confirms he left club over Xavi Hernandez decision

New Real Betis signing Ez Abde has been clear that he only wanted to join Los Verdiblancos when he made the decision to leave Barcelona.

Abde moved to Betis on the final day of the transfer window, with Betis reportedly paying €7.5m for 50% of his rights. Barcelona have a buyback clause, which is €20m but will rise to €25m in 2025.

Betis Sporting Director Ramon Planes played a key role in the deal, Abde told Marca.

“I didn’t fear that it wouldn’t happen, because I trusted Ramon and knew he was going to do it.”

“From the first day I told him that I only wanted to go to Betis. What I’m looking for is to grow as a footballer.”

Abde made his decision after Barcelona Manager Xavi Hernandez started him from the bench in their first three games of the season.

“In Barcelona they told me that they wanted me to stay. In the first three matchdays I saw that he wasn’t starting me. I was clear that I wanted to play from the start and I decided to leave.”

Xavi has been adamant that there are enough minutes to go around for Barcelona players this season, although the departures of Abde, Eric Garcia and Ansu Fati should ensure that, with only 19 players in the senior squad. That said, he has also been clear that he cannot guarantee anyone their position. Barcelona may have wanted to hang onto Abde, but the move to Betis might well be a better step for his development.

Tags Barcelona Morocco Real Betis Xavi Hernandez

7 Comments

  1. I honestly dont blame young abde at all for leaving fair play to him he doesn’t want to rot on the bench he wants to play or at least get a chance to play under stubborn xavi this was never going to happen hes just right to go to another team were the manager trusts and at the very least uses him,constantly seeing xavi play midfielders in the left wing position and having heard xavi gerning all season long please dont sell abde and then to not even use him exactly like what happened with ansu who also seen what was really going on and did the same,xavi doesn’t know his arse from his elbow lol my other surprise is that ferran torres stuck around he has basically been treated like shit by xavi who continues to play robert lewandowski whether he is playing well or not and we all know hes been trash well all of us but xavi lol.

    1. Xavi didn’t want to sell Abde because he wanted to help him develop at the club instead of someplace else. You can’t be a one trick pony at Barca; you have to be reliable with AND without the ball, and Abde wasn’t yet consistent enough to rely on fully. Even I could see that, and I certainly don’t know Barca like Xavi does. If he plays more for Pellegrini it will be good for him; I just think that his opinion of his play was different than the manager’s, and we all know how that usually shakes out.

      Ansu had a slight case of he Riqui Puigs; he played too much for himself and not enough for the team; it quite frankly ruined the shape too many times and cost the club opportunities. I think his attitude deteriorated a bit too, to where he couldn’t summon up his best effort when he was given chances, and that was when he really needed to.

      Torres isn’t a natural 9 and doesn’t even start ahead of Morata (who is just not very good) for Spain, so the idea that he would start ahead of Lewandowski is a little far-fetched, don’t you think?

      1. Im not saying that xavi had to or must play abde or ansu or ferran every single minute of every single match like what he continues to do with robert lewandowski whether hes playing crap or not hell this man can’t even be subbed off currently lol,what im saying is that xavi didn’t even have the decency or professionalism to give them all a fair chance to prove a point or show their worth to him and instead played natural midfielders out of position like gavi,gündoğan ect there instead how would you feel and think john if you were abde,ansu,ferran sitting on the bench every week witnessing and experiencing that ? i certainly know exactly how i myself would feel and be thinking thats for sure lol personally imo i would refer to xavis behaviour as childish,immature,stubborn but again this is just my opinion on it not everyone elses,i mean ferran torres is the perfect example of this yes he may not be a natural number 9 like you correctly state here but if your trying to tell me john he doesn’t deserve to start ahead of robert lewandowski on current form and on goals scored minutes played this season so far both for club and country then i will have to politely disagree with you here completely john sorry lol.

        1. Hi Sam; I think we saw today that Xavi will play a winger at left wing when he has someone he can count on. My feeling is that the person that plays there is going to have to understand linkup play, how and where to be when they don’t have the ball, and to be reliable, willing and able to defend when the other team has the ball in addition to having an attacking presence. Now, Gavi and Gudogan may not have had much of the latter, but they have much more of the whole package than Abde or Ansu did. Xavi is trying to win the league again; developing players happens in practice. Ansu showed a great deal of inconsistency when he was given chances; we all saw it. Not Xavi’s fault. Abde doesn’t get to come back from a part time position at Osasuna and demand to be a starter at Barca, but I guarantee your he would have gotten his chances in the early CL and Copa matches, and he would have been subbed on today as well.

          As for Ferran, he showed today where he belongs. We may see him again on the left when Xavi has to rotate during the next couple of weeks (since Abde is gone lol), but he’s clearly better on the right and Xavi may go back to Gavi over there. anyway. Barca are loaded at RW, but if that keeps the club from having to rely on a 16 year old there are worse problems.

          I’ve said since the beginning that Cancelo would make a huge difference in our overall play if we were able to bring him in, and he’s proven it. We have a more balanced attack now, and it forces the defense to commit more to that side and open up centrally. With (insert inadequate player) over there, nobody feared the attack from that side. Raphina automatically got bracketed and that was the end of that. Now, the defensive middle opens up a little, more chances for Lewandowski, people stop talking about him being done. I absolutely respect your opinion about Ferran, but I think a lot of Lewy’s problems had to do with defenses knowing they could surround him because they didn’t fear anyone else. He’s two for two now with Cancelo in the lineup, and with Felix on the other side today, had more room than he’s had in some time. Granted, it was Betis, but the wide talent has improved immensely and that will definitely make Lewy more effective (in my opinion, anyway). Hope you enjoyed the match as much as I did 🙂

      2. Ferran torres goals per minutes played this season so far not even starts lol and even including the pre season tour in the united states earlier this year and also the spain national team has been quite incredible i dont have the exact figures and numbers off the top of my head here but what i do know is they are a hell of alot better than robert lewandowskis.

  2. Xavi said he couldn’t guarantee anyone a starting spot but he gave Gavi assurances when Gavi was troubled with the incoming of new midfielders. Xavi was hypocritical in dealing with Fati and Abde

  3. I am not sure what all the fuss is all about, I do not think Abde is good enough for Barcelona, the same thought I had about Puig.

    Yes Xavi has a tunnel vision with certain players but what has Abde done to warrant him starting games ahead of much better players.

    It is not as if he would be an undisputed starter at Betis either.

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