Pablo García is 20 years old and had lived in Betis’s sports city since he was 5.
That is where he learned to play, became the all-time leading scorer in the youth ranks, made his first-team debut, and played in a U-20 World Cup wearing Spain’s jersey.
On September 1, the last day of the transfer window, all of that came to an abrupt end: the club sold him to create room on the wage bill and register Dani Ceballos, who was returning from Real Madrid.
García said goodbye to his teammates and left in the car driven by his own mother. Cameras captured the two of them crying, her at the wheel and him unable to hide what he was feeling.
Betis kept a percentage of a future sale and a right of first refusal, as if it knew that one day it might need him back.