Giovani Lo Celso’s €25m asking price is pushing Real Betis to instead target a move for West Ham United midfielder Pablo Fornals.
That’s according to Estadio Deportivo, who say the West Ham man has ‘already shown his desire’ to return to Spain this summer.
The newspaper explains that while the Argentine is a player on Betis’ list of options this summer, they are only considering a loan deal for him at present.
That does not tally with his club, whose idea is to try and sell the midfielder for €25m and recoup some of their losses on him.
Those two factors are causing Betis to look elsewhere and, coupled with the fact Manuel Pellegrini ‘prefers’ Fornals, who he worked alongside at West Ham, he is now the favourite ahead of Lo Celso.
Indeed, something of a plan seems to have been drawn up between the Betis manager and director of football Ramón Planes to sign the West Ham man and Ez Abde from Barcelona.
That plan is now ‘very clear’ and while both are considered ‘difficult targets’ to get, they are boosted by the fact Fornals has ‘already shown his desire’ to return to Spain after four years at the London Stadium.
That’s seen as a positive for Betis, who now appear to be putting him at the top of their list and making efforts to get a deal done.
