Barcelona: Carles Aleñá set to join Betis on loan
The midfielder is close to completing a winter transfer move to Betis but Barça have stressed that they will only accept a six-month loan arrangement.
Barça don't want to lose Carles Aleñá for good and for that reason the club is only willing to listen to offers to take the player on loan which do not include the option to buy him outright once the loan deal ends.
Betis are looking prime candidates to take the midfielder once the winter transfer window opens on Wednesday. This year, the January window in Spain will remain open from New Year's Day until 23:59 hours on 1 February.
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Too many midfielders at Barcelona
Barcelona's technical department believe Aleñá has a future at Camp Nou even though opportunities in the first team have been few and far between. They would prefer to have him within reach, playing regularly and continuing with his development for when his time comes to step into the senior side. This season, Aleñá has played just five games (four in LaLiga and one in the Champions League) in which he has totalled 260 minutes of playing time. He is one of the players who has been most affected by the surplus of midfielders which Ernesto Valverde has in the first team squad. In the pre-season, the 21-year-old had his squad number taken off him and handed to Frenkie De Jong and after featuring in the starting line-up in the league opener at San Mamés, he virtually disappeared from Valverde's squad lists until November.