Carles Aleña: I decided I wanted to leave Barcelona in October

Carles Aleña: I decided I wanted to leave Barcelona in October

Así ha sido la llegada de Carles Aleñá a la capital andaluza / | @BetisarmyTW

The midfielder was officially presented as a Real Betis player on Wednesday

Carles Aleña was presented as a Real Betis player on Wednesday after joining the club on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season. 

The midfielder made his debut as a substitute against Alaves at the weekend but his presentation had been delayed as he had signed during the winter break. 

Aleña said he is looking forward to the new challenge away from Barça and revealed he made up his mind about leaving Camp Nou in October. 

"I am really happy to be able to be here," he said. "When I learned of Betis' interest, I thought it was the best thing for me. You can see that it's a family. I am going to give everything to be able to return the affection given to me." 

The Spain U21 international is anxious to make his first appearance at the Benito Villamarin: "I get goosebumps every time I come here on the opposition side. To be able to feel it on the home side makes me very happy. 

"I want to fight to help Betis grow even more. I hope it will be six glorious months, that Betis climb the table and after that, we will see what happens."

Barça coach Ernesto Valverde has said he was surprised Aleña left and that it was the player's decision. He exercised a clause that existed in his contract that allowed him to leave on loan in search of regular football. I wanted to come to Betis, what I didn't think was that it would happen so quickly. 

"That clause allowed me to decide my future. In the summer there was interest from Betis but it wasn't to be, but in December (Valverde) knew I wanted to come here. 

"I left because I could see it was tough to (play regularly) at Barcelona. The coach told me he had confidence in me, that I could play. But, in October, November, there were many games when I wasn't called up and I decided I wanted to leave. 

"It's true I played more in the last month but the decision was already taken." 

Topics with the letter