As expected, Betis yesterday confirmed the loan signing of 24-year-old Swedish winger Guillermo Molins after what we can assume was a very exhaustive medical given that he hasn't played much since recovering from a serious knee injury more than a year ago. He will be here till the end of the season, with Betis having an option to buy him for €650,000 from Anderlecht in the summer if he impresses.
Much less expected was the news that Salvador Agra is to make way for Molins by going on loan to Italian club Siena for the rest of the season. But actually, there is a certain logic to this. Agra has been a little disappointing since arriving with a big reputation in the summer and is now definitively behind Joel Campbell in the pecking order for the right-midfield spot (where, of course, Molins also plays). But the little Portuguese winger is still just 21, obviously has talent and will surely benefit from six months of regular first-class foootball (which he should get, as Siena are well bottom of Serie A). In a video message to fans this morning, he said, "I'm going away to get more playing time, but I hope to be back to play for Betis is Europe next season. It's an honour to pull on the Betis shirt and I hope to do it lots more."
As a not unrelated aside, I also read that Betis are already negotiating to extend Joel Campbell's loan from Arsenal for another year, and are hopeful that this could really happen. That would be quite a coup.
As my screennamcome might indicate, I'm a dual Arsenal-Betis supporter, and I don't think another year of Joel Campbell is out of the question. Arsenal already have plenty of outside midfielders, and they're still being linked to even more. If they see him as a striker in the long term, though, it could be a different story. The only true striker on the squad right now is Giroud (no, Walcott is not, and n, ever will be a central striker), so they sorely need more depth there.
Posted by: vermaelen5 | Saturday, 19 January 2013 at 06:48 PM