Last month, Las Palmas confirmed that Alvaro Valles had mutually agreed to terminate his contract, thus opening the door to a Real Betis return, which has been widely speculation upon for months. The 27-goalkeeper, who was one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga during the 2023-24 season, left after not playing a single minute during the current campaign.
Last summer, Valles told Las Palmas that he would not be signing a new deal, and with his current contract ending in 2025, it meant that they tried to cash in on him. However, he rejected numerous approaches as he was reported to be holding out for Betis, who ended up not coming in for him as they were unable to sell Rui Silva.
It is taken for granted that Valles will join Betis in the summer, with reports that a verbal agreement has already been reached. However, the player himself has denied this during an interview with Canarias Radio, as per ED.
“I’m not a Real Betis player and I’m not thinking about that, but only about training to choose the best option in the summer market. I’m already home, and I feel calmer. Logically, I want to compete, because it’s my profession. I want to enjoy football again. The wait is long. Hopefully something good will come.”
Valles also opened up on being ostracised from the Las Palmas squad after making it clear that he would not be signing a new contract.
“Since pre-season I already knew what was happening. Both the sporting management and I spoke and put things on the table. I knew what could happen. I accepted those conditions and they knew my thinking and what I wanted. We were sincere on all sides, so there is nothing to reproach. From the moment I sat down to talk, I knew I could go to the stands. The president is a person of his word and he knew it could happen. We gave each other our points of view. I’ll always say that until the last day I had a good relationship with him.
“I’ve had a hard time, because I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could. I had to find the strength to train every day. The termination of the contract is an option that the club transferred to me. I was exhausted and preferred to step aside.”
