From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Betis asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$38.0M was the most the club would pay and Real Madrid were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Ezequiel Ávila has left for Mallorca in a $1.9M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Betis
Antony and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
No investment in the facilities at Betis
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Fran García wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Betis have no good answer.
Market17 Aug 2026
The hardest part of developing a footballer is admitting he needs to be somewhere else for a while. Manu González leaves on loan to get the football he was not going to get here, which is the point of the exercise and not an admission of anything.
Looking ahead17 Aug 2026
Looking ahead: the trip to Levante
Position 8 for the hosts, a long journey for the away end, and a fixture that will look ordinary on paper right up until it is not.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Natan keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Natan plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$38.0M on the table at Real Madrid. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$25.8M on the table at Athletic Bilbao. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Barcelona wanted more than $4.2M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Antony signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Antony commits to Betis for another 5 years.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $40.9M — a club that wants Vinícius Júnior enough to be asked twice.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Antony in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Betis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Lorenzo have kept their man, and Betis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Betis may not be able to give Valentín Gómez what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Valentín Gómez wants continental football; whether Betis can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Betis say no — this time
The offer from Real Sociedad for Cucho Hernández was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market3 Aug 2026
Antony wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Betis hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market3 Aug 2026
Betis may not be able to give Natan what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Natan wants continental football; whether Betis can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fran García commits to Betis for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Betis
Antony was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Betis asked and Talleres said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
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Squad
Cédric Bakambu stands down from international duty
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Market
The clock runs on Fran García's contract
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Squad
5 new faces, and Betis are still learning each other
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The dugout
Antony knocks on the manager's door