Ez Abde is one of the players who left FC Barcelona this summer. The winger wanted to remain at Barcelona but the competition in the attacking line forced the club into lightening its squad, and Abde was one of the players with the highest demand in the market.
Abde spent the last season on loan at Osasuna, where he shone and attracted the attention of big clubs across Europe. However, he wanted to stay at the Catalan club as he returned this summer, and he actually did impress Xavi with his performances in the pre-season and competitive matches that he played.
Barcelona retain rights over Abde
In fact, Xavi also wanted him to remain in the squad, but Barcelona needed to offload some of its forwards and also needed to lower their wage bill to incorporate players like Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.
The Moroccan winger himself wanted to have a prominent role in the squad and significant game time which Xavi was not in a position to guarantee. Thus, Abde was sold to Real Betis, and Barcelona got €7.5 million from this sale.
While Abde will now be playing for Betis, the Catalans still have some rights over the player. For instance, the Blaugranes have a right to 50% proceeds from any future sale of the player and also have a repurchase option on the Moroccan.
Details of the repurchase option
More details on this repurchase option have been provided in a recent report by Mundo Deportivo. Barcelona will have to pay €20 million to buy Abde back from Betis.
However, this buyback option will be valid for Barcelona only for the two upcoming transfer windows, i.e., summers of 2024 and 2025, while Abde’s contract with Betis runs till 2028.
Xavi Hernandez himself revealed last Saturday that Blaugranes had a repurchase option on Abde, and thus the Moroccan player could well have another chapter of his career dedicated to Barcelona.
However, Barcelona will have only the next two years to activate this repurchase option, and currently, the forward line is highly stacked at the Catalan club.
