Real Betis

Real Betis full-back Junior Firpo has said he has no preference between Real Madrid and Barcelona amid continued speculation regarding his future.

Firpo made strides for Betis in the 2018-19 season, providing thrust and energy on the left flank. Unsurprisingly, rumours have started to arise regarding a possible transfer.

Speaking to EFE (h/t AS), the Spain youth international said he doesn't have a favourite of the two La Liga giants, despite the fact that his father is a fan of Real Madrid.

"No," he said when asked if he preferred one over the other. "I said that I was more Madrid because my father is a Madrid fan and at home I see that more, but that's not to say I prefer Madrid just because my father is a fan. Honestly, Real Betis is the club that I like, where I have been since I was young."

The 22-year-old added that he's focused on his current club despite the speculation. "I have a contract with Betis," he said. "I have a duty at Betis because this club has given me everything, and I will always be thankful for that. But I am only thinking about the Euros with Spain, and after that we will see."

As Marca relayed, both Barcelona and Real Madrid have been tipped as possible suitors, while Premier League side Manchester United are also said to be in the frame.

Eleven Sports shared a clip of some of the left-back's best moments this term:

| 🤔 |

Barcelona or Real Madrid

Where would Betis' Junior Firpo develop more ❓

"I said that I was more Madrid because my father is a Madrid fan & at home I see that more but that's not to say I prefer Madrid just because my father is a fan."pic.twitter.com/557wQbFyix

— ELEVEN Football (@ElevenSportsFB) June 2, 2019

Given Betis frequently operate with a three-man defence, Firpo is given license to push forward on the left flank. That freedom allows him to showcase his best assets.

He is always looking to be positive on the ball, as he commits opposition defenders and gets crosses into the box. Physically, he's a tough man to get the better of, as the Betis star is strong in the tackle, good in the air and has relentless energy.

Per OptaJose, he also constantly puts himself into dangerous areas:

16,9 - Only Junior Firpo has averaged more touches in the opposition box (one for each 16,8 total touches) than Marc Cucurella (one for each 16,9) among the #LaLiga right/left backs this season. Purchase pic.twitter.com/SnUc6XkCah

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) May 27, 2019

If he were to move to either Madrid or Barcelona, he'd likely have to adapt his game, as playing as an orthodox left-back instead of a wing-back would require Firpo to be more defensively astute.

At Madrid, iconic left-back Marcelo endured a challenging season, as he was frequently overlooked in favour of Sergio Reguilon. Meanwhile, while Barcelona have one of the standout left-backs in the game in Jordi Alba, they lack a natural competitor for him in the position.

Giovani Lo Celso has said he is unconcerned by transfer rumours linking him with a switch to Real Madrid or Barcelona. 

The Argentina international has been impressive on loan at Real Betis this season and has developed into a goal threat in La Liga and Europe.

Speaking to France Football (h/t Marca), Lo Celso declared he's only thinking about finishing the campaign in top form and does not know if the Spanish giants are interested in his services.

"You try not to focus on these things and to keep on working the way you have been doing in order to keep improving. It's not good if you think about [transfer rumours]. There are many matches left and we're playing for some major things, so I'm focussed on this and on trying to give my best. I don't know if [Real Madrid and Barcelona] asked about signing me or not, as I don't get involved in such things. I just try to play football, which is what makes me happy. I'm thinking about trying to finish as high as possible with Real Betis and then we'll see what happens with the passing of time."

The player was also asked if he could return to parent club PSG but once again replied he does not know what his future holds.

Lo Celso experienced a breakout season with his French team in 2017-18 but tumbled down the pecking order at the Parc des Princes.

The loan switch to Betis last summer has allowed him to find regular minutes for the eighth-placed La Liga outfit.

Lo Celso has operated in a central berth for his loan club, featuring with success at times in an advanced role behind the attack.

The 22-year-old has scored 10 goals and provided three assists in La Liga and the UEFA Europa League this term.

According to Spanish newspaper ABC (h/t Football Espana), Betis have met with PSG to discuss a potential €22 million (£18.8 million) permanent transfer for the Argentinian.

The player is still in the early days of his long-term development curve, but he has quickly proved life in the Spanish league suits his style.

Lo Celso has the potential to be a box-to-box entity in Spain. He would be perfectly suited for Madrid's squad as they consider a plethora of targets in the summer after Zinedine Zidane's return to the capital.

Valladolid, which is perched in the north-west of Spain, was once the country's capital city.

Renowned explorer Christopher Columbus died there, and it's where Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, used to live. Its football team, Real Valladolid, hasn't had much success, but on Sunday its stadium will make a bit of history when Real Betis captain Joaquin is set to pass Barcelona's iconic star Xavi Hernandez in seventh position on the list of players to have made the most appearances in La Liga.

Provided he stays fit, the 37-year-old will bypass Iker Casillas—Spain's FIFA World Cup-winning captain and another giant of Spanish football history—on the ladder by the end of the season. It's an extraordinary achievement, which is roundly celebrated by Spanish football fans because he's one of their favourite sons.

According to Spanish football writer and broadcaster Cayetano Ros, Joaquin stands alongside Andres Iniesta and Santi Cazorla as Spain's most popular footballer currently in the game.

"He's an artist, a showman and an exceptional person," says Rafael Pineda, a journalist with El Pais who first interviewed Joaquin in 2000 when he broke into the first team at Real Betis, which is one of the two big clubs in Seville along with Sevilla.

"He's beloved in Seville," Pineda adds. "He's from a very humble family. He basically made all the people in his family rich, but he's never acted like a star. He's a regular guy, very down to earth, who is always there for charity work or practically for anything which he's invited to do. He's such a personality. When he leaves football, it's easy to see him being lined up to do media work or television."

Everyone knows Joaquin in Spain for his jokes and japes. A few years ago, he went on El Hormiguero, a hit daily TV show. During the interview, the show's host had a hen dropped in front of Joaquin while he tipped off the audience that one of his guest's hidden talents was his ability to hypnotise hens. Joaquin laughed easily and then went about hypnotising the hen. He set to his bizarre task with the kind of earnestness that it would be difficult to imagine, say, LeBron James or Roger Federer mustering.

Joaquin's defining moment in football happened a long time ago. As a 20-year-old, he lit up Spain's progress at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea. When Spain met South Korea in the quarter-finals, Joaquin ran the hosts ragged. A couple of minutes into extra time, he skinned his marker and lobbed a delicate cross on to the head of Fernando Morientes, who came in at the back post to score.

"That, there, was a synopsis of his career," Ros says. "He beat his man, got to the byline and crossed the ball into the box. It was a perfect cross. The ball flew so softly. It was ideal for a centre-forward to head into the goal."

Only the goal wasn't allowed. Joaquin was pulled up for crossing the ball when it was out of play. Video replays show the ball never went out of play. In one of the most notorious matches in World Cup history, several dodgy referring decisions—referred to as "an affront to sport" by the Daily Telegraph's Paul Hayward—led to Spain's elimination. They lost in a penalty shootout, during which Joaquin was the only player to miss.

Joaquin was a mainstay in Spain's national team for several years. He amassed more than 50 caps, also playing a part in a run to the round of 16 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but he fell out of favour with coach Luis Aragones and failed to make the squad for the nation's historic UEFA Euro 2008-winning campaign and subsequent victories in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.

"This is his great shame," Pineda says. "He missed the train."

Although he flirted with a move to Real Madrid during the club's Galactico years, Joaquin never joined one of the country's Big Two: Barcelona or Madrid. Along with the fact that he missed out on his national team's glories, it helps to explain why Joaquin is not more widely known around the world. On his CV, he only has two Copa del Rey medals to show for almost two decades playing top-flight football. It's a meagre return for a player of his talent.

Joaquin won Spain's domestic cup competition with Real Betis in 2005. He brought the cup along to the church for his wedding ceremony a few weeks later. He never played in his other cup-winning final, however—he was an unused sub in Valencia's win over Getafe in the 2008 decider, with his side featuring Juan Mata, David Silva and David Villa.

Joaquin left Real Betis for Valencia in a big-money move in 2006. He spent five seasons at Valencia in the middle of a volatile period in its history. During what should have been the peak years of his career, he had a mixed return at the club.

"My memory is he was a player with class, a very elegant player, with a lot of quality, but in Valencia he was asked to work harder," Ros says. "I remember Quique Sanchez Flores was the manager who signed him. He used to tell him that he needed to come to training with his 'working overalls' on. He always wanted him to work harder.

"The thing is, Joaquin came to the club at a chaotic time; there were a lot of problems at board level. A huge amount of debt had been accumulated, the coaches kept changing and there was a lot of fan unrest. He cost a lot of money—€25 million (then £18 million)—so the club expected performances like a crack (superstar), but he didn't reach that point. He was a good player, but he wasn't a crack."

Ronald Koeman, who is currently managing the Netherlands, replaced Sanchez Flores in 2007. The Dutchman and Joaquin never saw eye to eye. It was Koeman who left the player twisting in the wind when the club won the Copa del Rey during the 2007-08 season.

"He never had a good relationship with Koeman," Ros says. "Koeman didn't want him, and Joaquin had some very strong words for Koeman. He accused Koeman of being a drunk and unprofessional. The problem for Joaquin was that he never had a coach at Valencia who understood him. He has that now at Betis with Quique Setien.

"Setien is a coach who loves the beautiful game. He's different to Sanchez Flores, for example, who likes physical footballers, fighters, guys who work hard. Joaquin isn't this kind of player."

Joaquin has found peace back at Real Betis, the club that has nurtured him since he first joined as an academy player in 1994. He has flourished in particular under Setien, who values his artistry, and it is one of the reasons why Joaquin is having such an impressive, extended final act to his career.

Joaquin's longevity is remarkable. He does yoga at 40 degrees Celsius. He has avoided serious injury. He's hardly ever been out of the game for more than a month. He himself attributes his healthy body to having been breastfed until the age of six.  

"He's stayed playing so long because he has a privileged set of genes," Pineda says. "The doctors at Betis always say that he is an athletic specimen. He has perfect musculature. It's amazing because when he was young, he never took care of himself. He didn't eat well. He went out late at night. He never rested, although now he's different.

"I remember one time when he was young, he went out all night. There was a nightclub here in Seville that had a dust floor. So the next morning he arrived at training, and his shoes were all yellow. When Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, who was the club's coach, saw him he asked where had he come from because his shoes were caked in this yellow dust. Joaquin said he had come running cross-country! He was still drunk. Serra forgive him, and he allowed him to rest."

Joaquin no longer burns the candle at both ends. What is perhaps most impressive about him is that he has transformed his style of play. He used to be an old-fashioned winger, playing wide on the right. Now he has come infield. His game is more nuanced. His transformation is similar in ways to the late-career switch that Ryan Giggs made, which extended his career at Manchester United.

"Unless you're a class player, you can't continue to play at the top level at his age," says Manu Sainz, a journalist with Diario AS. "It shows he takes care of himself and that he has a lot of quality. It's interesting that he's been able to reinvent himself. Now he attacks in the centre of the pitch. Before he operated in a limited area—on the wing. It's an incredible metamorphosis for a player at 36 or 37 to recreate himself as a different style of footballer.

"When a player gets to his age, the normal thing that happens is their virtues wither and die. The goalscorer stops scoring goals. The defender becomes slower. But Joaquin has found new skills. He's changed so he continues to be vital. And he's playing at the highest level—in Spain's first division and in the UEFA Europa League (although Betis were knocked out by Rennes on Thursday). He's not playing in Saudi Arabia.

"I never thought he could be so intelligent to rebuild himself as a different footballer. It's clear he really understands football."

This season, he has scored some critical goals, including the winner in the Seville derby in September and from a corner in the first leg of Betis' Copa del Rey semi-final against his old employers Valencia. The two sides meet for the second leg on Thursday.

Tied at 2-2, Real Betis will be looking to seal a place in the final, which is slated to be played in their stadium in May. Joaquin will hope to be there. We don't know when his race will be run. He has a contract until 2020.

"I remember when Joaquin was first playing with Betis," Pineda says. "This was 14, 15 years ago. His father said to us that this guy could play until he's 40 years old. We didn't believe him. But the idea doesn't sound so stupid now."

                       

Follow Richard on Twitter: @Richard_Fitz