On Saturday, Real Betis confirmed that midfielder William Carvalho had suffered a complete tear of his Achilles tendon, suffered during the previous night’s victory over Leganes. The Portuguese pivot will undergo surgery next week, and it is expected that he will be out of action for at least 5-6 months.
Carvalho’s injury is a big blow for Betis, who have now lost one of their main midfielders for a significant period of time. Manuel Pellegrini has Johnny Cardoso, Marc Roca and Sergi Altimara as replacements, but it could be that another player is sought in January to fill the void left by the 32-year-old.
Diario AS say that Betis are expected to make a renewed effort to sign Dani Ceballos, whom they missed out on during the summer. The sale of Rodri Sanchez has increased the funds available to be spent on a deal, and this makes it more realistic that it can happen.
It feels inevitable that Ceballos will end up returning to Betis, where he started his career. However, Real Madrid are unlikely to make it easy for him to leave in January, as they would need to sort a replacement because of their own lack of midfield depth.
