Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Ramon Planes had left his role as Real Betis’ Sporting Director to take on a similar position at Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad, who boast Karim Benzema among their ranks. Los Verdiblancos desperately tried to keep Planes, who only joined the club last March, but their efforts were in vain.
There was good news for Betis, as Al-Ittihad also tried to take Manu Fajardo, the club’s technical secretary. However, he turned them down in favour of extending his stay in Andalusia. This news was confirmed by Ramon Alarcon, Betis’ CEO, in the run-up to Saturday’s victory over Granada, as per MD.
“Only Ramon Planes has left, who, since he arrived, has worked tirelessly, but a great offer arrived from Saudi Arabia and, as he himself said, he had to accept it for economic and family reasons. His team has stayed and, in fact, Manu Fajardo continues as technical secretary, at the head of the operations that he knew inside out.
“The planning is done and the roadmaps are open. The work is on track and all that needs to be done is to finish it off. Everyone on your team stays. This area does not depend on one person, but on a working group. Manu is a Betis man, and he has a great future here.”
There’s no doubt that losing Planes is a big blow for Real Betis, especially during a transfer window, but having the rest of his crew remaining at the club is certainly a silver lining.
