Andres Guardado renews with Real Betis

Andres Guardado renews with Real Betis despite interest from abroad.

Real Betis released a statement that the club have come to an agreement with Mexican international Andres Guardado on a contract extension.

The new deal sees the Mexican extend his contract two additional years until 2022. Betis also announced his renewal on their Twitter page.

https://twitter.com/RealBetis_en/status/1201931804518817792

The contract extension comes at a bit of a surprise considering Guardado had interest from outside of Europe. Specifically, Major League Soccer, or MLS, was calling his name.

The Chicago Fire were rumored to be heavily interested and according to a report from beIN Sports, Chicago were the frontrunners should he have opted for a move to MLS. Reports were that Guardado was interested in a move in 2020.

Given his new contract, that move looks to be put on hold.

Nicknamed “El Principito,” Guardado arrived at Real Betis back in the summer of 2017 from PSV Eindhoven. He quickly became a permanent fixture under Quique Setien and became one of the team captains.

Under Joan Francesc Ferrer “Rubi,” he remains one of the first names on the team sheet. The 33-year old midfielder believes he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level.

Guardado has made a name for himself since arriving in Europe back in 2007 joining Spanish side, Deportivo La Coruña. He was there for five seasons before joining Valencia. He struggled a bit at Valencia which led to him being loaned to Bayer Leverkusen.

He returned from his loan at the end of the season and was loaned again to PSV Eindhoven. He became a bit of a club legend at PSV helping the Dutch side to back-to-back Eredivisie titles.

It was from PSV where he joined Betis. He has played 84 official games with the club, scoring two goals and provided 13 assists. Looks like they’ll have Andres Guardado for a little while longer.