Carles Aleña set to leave Barcelona in search of more playing time.
Barcelona’s first move of the January transfer window will be loaning out Carles Aleña to fellow league side, Real Betis.
According to Albert Roge from Diario Sport, the two clubs have come to an agreement for a half-season long loan without an option to buy.
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Roge writes that the managerial situation with Rubi at Betis was a concern with other clubs jumping into the race to sign the talented midfielder. But ultimately, the player wanted to stay in Spain.
A loan to Betis was in the cards going back to the start of the season but the player wanted to wait out the futures of both Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal. At that time, Aleña opted to stay.
Finding himself in the same situation months later, this time he opted to make the switch.
Betis want the transfer to be completed as soon as possible and have Aleña in their ranks by the time the league starts back up again.
Aleña has not had the best time at Barcelona since bring promoted from Barça B.
He flip-flopped from the youth team and the senior team last season before being made a first-team player. Still, he was rarely taken into account by Ernesto Valverde who opted for more veteran midfielders.
Things did not get much better this season when Frenkie de Jong was brought in. Aleña was annoyed at the fact that the board gave the Dutchman his jersey number without notifying him.
He said that giving the number was not the problem as he would have given it to him had he been asked.
He was given a start in the club’s first league game of the season against Athletic Bilbao. He did not perform well but to his defense, neither did the rest of the team. He was subbed out after the first-half and didn’t play an official game until very recently.
He performed very well in their 2-1 over Inter Milan in the Champions League. But with Ivan Rakitic coming back into the fold, playing time was going to come to a premium.
While this marks the first move for Barcelona in the transfer market it might not be the last. The future of Arturo Vidal is very much up in the air.
The loan move is a good one for Aleña who will surely see more consistent playing time and one that plays attacking football. He’ll get the opportunity to develop and come back to Barcelona a better player.