Leeds United loanee primed to extend stay as contract clause revealed but club baulk at purchase price — YEP 2/5/24
Leeds United-owned player Marc Roca is likely to remain at loan club Real Betis next season if the Whites are unable to clinch promotion back to the Premier League, according to reports in Spain.
By Joe Donnohue
The 27-year-old reportedly has an option in his initial
season-long loan deal that permits Real Betis to extend Roca's stay at Estadio
Benito Villamarin automatically and at no additional cost, should Leeds fail to
be promoted this season.
Roca departed Elland Road last summer after one season in
West Yorkshire but remains contracted to the club until 2026. The player has
previously disclosed his preference to remain in LaLiga and his best chance of
doing so appears to be if Leeds do not go up.
According to ABC Sevilla, Los Verdiblancos chiefs do not
believe the purchase option in Roca's loan deal, which is believed to be around
the £10 million mark, represents value for money in the current transfer
climate and are reluctant to part with that sum if Leeds are promoted and
Roca's loan extension clause is voided. That particular scenario would leave
the former Spanish youth international with something of a quandary as Leeds
manager Daniel Farke is unlikely to welcome the player back to Elland Road with
open arms given he will not have played a part in the club's Championship
campaign.
The defensive midfielder has played 35 times across all
competitions for Real Betis this season, scoring on four occasions but has been
out of the side recently and not featured in the league since March. There are
five matches remaining in Spain's top flight with Los Beticos on the cusp of
qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League next term, should they finish
in sixth place.
Despite the promotion contingency impacting Roca's purported
loan extension, even in the event of promotion it may be agreed between the two
clubs that Roca remains in Seville for another year anyway.
Betis may also test Leeds' financial resolve if they are not
promoted, however, with a permanent bid below the purchase price set out in
Roca's initial loan deal. The club would be more likely to accept given the
financial constraints they would find themselves under during a second
Championship campaign. Additionally, the Whites may seek to avoid a scenario
where Roca is left with 12 months remaining on his Elland Road deal at the end
of the 2024/25 season, which would be the last opportunity for Leeds to avoid
making a loss on the player signed for approximately £10 million from Bayern
Munich two summers ago.