“It is not yet one hundred percent.” Manuel Pellegrini was clear about Diego Lainez in the lead up to previous matches. He did not enter the game against Atlético de Madrid. Nor in Leverkusen. Not even in the derby against Sevilla. And in all those scenarios there were needs related to the lack of depth of a team that cries out for another speed in the last meters. The verdiblanco coach knows that the Mexican can have it, but for the moment he puts his desire for prominence to measure his efforts. He missed too much because of that Olympics injury that deprived him of a preseason he’s doing now.
Lainez played 20 minutes in this league, against Rayo, and 45 in the Europa League when the team hosted Bayer Leverkusen at Benito Villamarín. The feelings left in the continental event were good, perhaps close to the performance that the winger had in some moments of last year, when he even settled in the starting position. Pellegrini wants that Lainez, the one who shows himself capable of overflowing and daring. Therefore, wait until it is one hundred percent to place it in the main showcase of your plan.
Betis expect Lainez to be a winter signing, perhaps the most anticipated. He had hardly any contribution to the team so far and after the break he intends to take minutes to fight for a place on that right flank that Rodro, Ruibal and Joaquín share. Many pieces and little room. Although Pellegrini knows that Lainez can deliver other arguments to those that his competitors have. The player waits for his moment and works hard to convince Pellegrini that his moment has come.