Barcelona defender Chadi Riad joins Real Betis

Xavi spoke about the need to reduce the size of the squad, and following the news this morning that Nico Gonzalez had signed for Porto, it’s now been confirmed that Chadi Riad has signed for La Liga side Real Betis.

The details of the deal have been confirmed by football insider Fabrizio Romano, with Riad joining Betis on a season-long loan with an obligation for the Seville side to make the transfer permanent next summer.

Barcelona will receive €2.5 million next June, and will also hold a 50% sell-on fee for any future transfer away from Betis. They also maintain a buy-back option on the player, something they tend to do when selling young players.

The 6’2 centre-back is highly regarded within the Barca youth ranks having joined the team back in 2019 from Mallorca, and was a consistent presence at the back for Rafael Márquez’s Barça Atlètic team in the Primera Federación – Gr. II last season.

Overall he made 35 appearances, scoring 2 goals. He mostly played as a left-sided centre-back, but he did get some game time as a left-back as well, which shows he has some versatility to offer.

Barcelona needed to make room for new signings

Barca is very active with their reserve and youth sides and has made several signings this summer for their subsidiary.

Two of the most prominent signings came at centre-back with Mikayil Faye arriving from K Kustosija in Croatia and Gerard Martin arriving from the Spanish side UE Cornellà.

In order to provide both of those players with development game time, Marquez had to make room in his team, and Riad was the man to go.

Considering he’s still largely unproven at the top level, getting €2.5 million guaranteed for him is a very good deal for the La Liga champions, and with the buy-back option they have protected their future interests.

Barca management is very high on Faye who is currently with the senior side in the USA, and chances are they’ll want to guarantee him as much game time as possible.