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Photo by Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Pablo Garcia<\/strong><\/a> completed an emotional deadline-day exit from Real Betis<\/strong> this week, leaving the club in tears after a 15-year spell and joining fellow La Liga<\/a> side Racing Santander<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There had been suggestions that Garcia was somewhat pushed out of the door to give Betis the financial flexibility to re-sign former Betis and Arsenal<\/a> midfielder Dani Ceballos<\/strong><\/a>, but the club deny this. They say Garcia wanted to leave for sporting reasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Regardless of the motivation for Garcia\u2019s exit, Racing Santander sporting director Chema Aragon<\/strong> claims the winger almost joined Arsenal<\/a> before his deadline-day transfer to their club was confirmed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Photo by Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt seemed like it was done with Arsenal<\/a>, and then we came in too on loan,\u201d Aragon said<\/a>. \u201cYesterday things changed, and what seemed to be a loan turned into a shared ownership deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If Arsenal<\/a> really were on the verge of signing Garcia, they managed to keep it all very quiet. There were no concrete reports of the Gunners making a move until Aragon\u2019s comments emerged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But it\u2019s worth mentioning that Arsenal<\/a> had been linked with the player last year. Sam Cohen reported<\/a> for GiveMeSport that Arsenal<\/a> had been watching the youngster last autumn and building a detailed report on him and a couple of others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So maybe Arsenal<\/a> really were interested, and the move fell apart when Betis decided they\u2019d prefer a shared ownership deal over a loan. That remains unconfirmed speculation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Photo by Fran Santiago\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Garcia played 34 games last season, scoring nine goals and assisting three. But the vast majority of those goal contributions were for Betis\u2019 second team, scoring or assisting nine in nine games in the Spanish third tier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The other three contributions were for Betis\u2019 first team, but all in the early rounds of the Copa del Rey. In La Liga<\/a>, the 20-year-old made 20 appearances for a total of just 378 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n