Barcelona tried to hijack 21-year-old former La Masia starlet’s move to Real Betis this summer – Beragampengetahuan

According to SPORT, Barcelona made an attempt to hijack former La Masia midfielder Sergi Altimira’s transfer from Getafe to Real Betis this summer but failed in their efforts.

Altimira came through the ranks at Barcelona’s La Masia youth setup, but left the club in 2019 to sign for CE Sabadell, where he made his first-team breakthrough.

After over 60 senior appearances at the club, the 21-year-old midfielder signed for Getafe earlier this summer on a free transfer, with his contract containing a release clause amount worth €2 million.

Barcelona made a move for Altimira

This alerted Barcelona who were looking for reinforcements in midfield and they probed the possibility of bringing Altimira back to the club from Getafe.

At the same time, though, Real Betis had already made a move for the 21-year-old Spanish midfielder and things were quite advanced already.

As per the report, Barcelona’s approach for Altimira came in the second week of this month, with some people within the club’s coaching staff pushing for his signing.

Contacts were made with the youngster’s entourage to check the possibility of a transfer. The suddenness of Barça’s approach left the midfielder’s camp surprised, but by then Altimira had given his word to Real Betis and did not want to back down.

Real Betis’ sporting director, Ramon Planes, happens to be the former technical secretary of Barcelona and knows Altimira’s potential well. And as such, he had acted quickly to secure his signing.

With the midfield prodigy having given his word to Planes and Betis, he did not wish to go back on it after being approached by the La Liga champions.

As such, he joined Manuel Pellegrini’s side and even made the bench for their most recent La Liga match against Atletico Madrid.