Barcelona centre-back Chadi Riad joins Real Betis in €2.5 million deal

Barcelona centre-back Chadi Riad has joined La Liga side Real Betis on a permanent transfer. The Seville side with pay €2.5 million but Barcelona has inserted a 50% sell-on clause to ensure that they maintain a financial interest in the Moroccan going forward.

The details were confirmed by football insider Fabrizio Romano early this morning, with Riad already in Seville ready to partake in first-team training.

The 6’2 defender was a mainstay in Rafael Márquez’s Barça Atlètic side last season appearing in 42 games across all competitions, scoring 4 goals.

The 20-year-old will be looking to cement a place in the first-team setup at Real Betis this season with the side having qualified for the Europa League group stage thanks to a 6th placed finish in La Liga.

The route to the first team was complicated for Riad considering the players at Barca’s disposal, and new Senegalese signing Mikayil Faye is expected to start for Márquez’s at Barça Atlètic.

Barca has never been shy about letting players go if they don’t believe they can continue their development, but the 50% sell-on clause shows they have a terrific amount of belief in Riad and his future.

The €2.5 million fee may seem small, but that’s a nice return for a player who’s only ever appeared in one senior game, that being a 2-1 win away at Osasuna last November.

Chadi Riad will be a fine addition to Real Betis

A left-footed physical centre half, Riad is comfortable playing as either a left or right-sided central defender.

A product of the RCD Mallorca Academy, Riad chose Barcelona over Villareal back in 2019. After a season’s loan at Sabadell, he was a pivotal member of the Juvenil A side that won the double.

Known as a powerful aerial player, Riad also showed his ability on the ball last season. He’s comfortable carrying the ball out of defence, and his range of passing is advanced for a player his age.

He showed a real positional awareness and his timing in the tackle is exceptional.

Considering his strong season at Barça Atlètic I expected him to be among the names called up by Xavi for the pre-season tour of the USA, but it’s clear that management believed his future lay elsewhere.