Sevilla president Jose Castro insists that selling Diego Carlos to Premier League giants Newcastle United or Tottenham Hotspur would have been ‘unthinkable’, speaking to Marca.
As far as ‘selling clubs’ go, Sevilla are renowned the continent over for their ‘buy-low-sell-high’ transfer strategy. And with good reason too.
In recent seasons, the perennial Europa League winners have made substantial profits on the likes of Wissam Ben Yedder, Clement Lenglet, Carlos Bacca, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Ivan Rakitic and more.
So Newcastle must have thought that they had a pretty good chance of luring Diego Carlos away from the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, having made the late-blooming Brazilian one of their top targets to reinforce a leaky backline.
Sevilla, however, have a first La Liga title since 1946 in their sights. There are just four points seperating Julen Lopetegui’s well-drilled side and league leaders Real Madrid.
And, as Castro points out, this is the time to think about glory, not the balance sheet.
“It is the moment for sports, to bet on something we want. It seems like the year. And we have made a superhuman effort,” Castro says.
“We have not sold anyone for dizzying offers.”
Are Sevilla right to reject Diego Carlos offers?
Newcastle made a number of approaches for Carlos, including a £30 million bid which Sevilla director Monchi described as a ‘very good offer’ (iNews).
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Tottenham came calling during the final week of the transfer window too.
Spurs were even willing to send Giovani Lo Celso back to Andalusia as part of the deal. Lo Celso emerged as one of La Liga’s finest playmakers during a spell at Sevilla’s arch rivals Real Betis between 2018 and 2019.
“The economic effort has also been to be able to keep Diego Carlos. He is still here, he is an extraordinary professional and he is the player with the most minutes in the squad,” Castro adds.
“He is an important figure. Our defence is the best in the league and spoiling that part of the team would have been unthinkable.”
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