Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that he doesn't expect to add to his Real Betis squad before the summer transfer window closes despite links to Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin.
The La Liga outfit have signed three new players so far with Willian Jose joining from rivals Real Sociedad, Luiz Henrique arriving from Brazilian outfit Fluminense and Luiz Felipe completing a free transfer after leaving Lazio upon the expiry of his contract at the Stadio Olimpico.
But even with the summer transfer window open until September 1, Pellegrini doesn't expect any more signings between now and deadline day: "There is no expectation of further reinforcements. We would have liked to analyse it from a different point of view, but there is an economic situation that means we cannot do so," he said, as per Mundo Deportivo.
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"The objective is to keep the squad as strong as possible following the exits of Joel, [Cristian] Tello and now [Marc] Bartra. It allows us to replace them just like last year. The sporting criteria, the work of Antonio [Cordon, Sporting Director] and the arrival of important players for free has allowed us to maintain our footballing strength."
Now, this stance could be bad news for Arsenal and Bellerin. The Spaniard has been heavily linked with a return to Real Betis following a successful 2021/22 loan spell under Pellegrini, but the issue is that the Spanish club's financial restrictions have made it difficult to reach an agreement with the Gunners.
There is a scenario that grants Bellerin his wish of a move to Betis but that involves Arsenal repeating a familiar trick used with Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Shkodran Mustafi, Willian and Sokratis in recent years and terminating the right-back's contract which has a year left to run.
As previously revealed by football.london, whilst this plan of action hasn’t been ruled out by the Gunners, they would prefer to receive a transfer fee for Bellerin despite technical director Edu describing the termination of previous players' deals as 'investments'.
"I know it hurts, I know it’s strange when I go to the board and say: 'Sometimes it’s better to pay a player to leave, than maintain them.' But I consider it an investment," he told football.london. "Sometimes people say: 'It’s expensive'. I say: 'No, it’s investment.' But someone will pay if you sell? No, guys - if the player is above 26, 27 and not performing, big salary, no chance."
Interestingly, Betis' financial situation may have been helped by the aforementioned €1.25million (£1million) sale of Marc Bartra to Turkish side Trabzonspor which was announced via the club's website over the weekend: 'Real Betis and Trabzonspor have reached an agreement for the transfer of Marc Bartra to the Turkish entity'.
However, as Bartra's exit has allowed Betis to register players in time for their La Liga opener against Elche on Monday night, they may need to complete another sale if they are to able to reach an agreement with Arsenal for Bellerin and Pellegrini hasn't ruled out the prospect of letting another leave.
"There is a reality that cannot be avoided," the former Manchester City manager added. "We are going to see if there is another offer that can improve the situation economically and not worsen sportingly. We have to respond on the field."
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