Real Betis have agreed to sell midfielder Gnangoro Bouaré to fellow La Liga side Rayo Vallecano, with Rayo paying €0.6 million for 50 percent of his economic rights, according to MundoBetis.
Betis will retain the other half of his rights along with a right of first refusal on any future sale.
MundoBetis reporter Pepe ElÃas writes that Bouaré, 22, completed the whole preseason training with Manuel Pellegrini's first team and impressed enough to be included in senior friendlies, including a trip to face Inter in Bari.
He was subsequently left out of training and dropped from further friendly squads after turning down a three-year contract renewal, having sought better terms than Betis were willing to offer. Infobae confirmed the transfer is proceeding on that basis, describing it as a departure Betis are now pushing through.
Bouaré, a central midfielder from VÃcar in AlmerÃa, joined Betis in January 2025 from Poli Ejido, spent the second half of that season on loan at Atlético Sanluceño, and played the whole of last season with Betis Deportivo in Primera RFEF, racking up 47 appearances across his loan and reserve-team spells.
Betis had valued him with a €15 million release clause as recently as two weeks ago, a figure MundoBetis noted was thirty times higher than the €500,000 some outlets had originally reported.
For Rayo Vallecano, adding a 22-year-old who trained all preseason under a Champions League-winning coach at a fraction of that release-clause valuation is a low-cost swoop on a player Betis clearly rated. For Betis, prioritising Pellegrini's preference for an established defensive midfielder over developing Bouaré themselves means cashing in now while retaining a sell-on stake and first-refusal rights if he goes on to succeed elsewhere.
Status: The move is at an advanced stage. Betis and Rayo have agreed terms on the 50 percent sale, and a medical was scheduled for Tuesday, though the transfer has not yet been officially announced by either club.
