CASTRO: "THERE IS A WRITTEN AGREEMENT, THE CLUB WILL DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY"

What had seemed like a signed contract extension on Monday, with the approval of all parties, lacking only the player's signature which would be obtained upon his arrival in Seville, ended up with having a surprising and disappointing outcome. What happened involved Vitolo ignoring the agreement reached with Sevilla FC on Sunday morning and heading to Madrid to break away from the Nervión club at the headquarters of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, accompanied by an Atlético Madrid emissary, before setting course for Gran Canaria, where he will play on loan at Unión Deportiva Las Palmas until 2018. 

Once the news had sunk in that he wasn't signing the extension with Sevilla, President José Castro who had even publicly announced that an agreement was in place over email with the agent and father of Vitolo on Monday, appeared on SFC Radio to explain the situation. 

"It isn't one of my better days, I'm not happy. The Liga de Fútbol Profesional have confirmed with us that Vitolo and an Atlético de Madrid lawyer have deposited a cheque at La Liga for a quantity which they understand to be the release clause of the player. The club is going to exercise its rights, and thoroughly examine the documentation that it has at its disposal, in order to exercise all legal action in its power to defend its rights", he stated.

"The club is going to thoroughly examine the documentation that it has at its disposal in order to exercise all legal action"

He continued: "It's an objective fact that Sevilla reached an agreement with Vitolo's representatives. The contract was not signed, but there was indeed a written agreement of terms for the new conditions of the contract, approved by his agent, his father... And now we have to thoroughly examine what will be the next steps we take. Sevilla will do whatever is necessary to defend its interests without sparing any detail". 

Doing whatever is necessary, he was asked, included consulting FIFA. "Whatever is necessary... I have said that we're going to do whatever we need to, but in any case it will be the Board of Directors that decides whatever will be necessary, who will always defend Sevilla FC". 

"Vitolo has used Sevilla to get more money from Atlético.. It's not just anger we feel... it's indignation"

President Castro, additionally, verified that he didn't regret having publicly announced Vitolo's extension, explaining his reasoning: "I don't regret it. And I'll explain how everything came about. During the weekend I had several different calls from, as he was at that time, our player, Vitolo... 18 kilometres worth of messages and various calls begging that we resolve his problem, that he now didn't want to return to Sevilla, that he wanted to play for Atlético and that we will accept Atlético's paying of his release clause. I told him that that was impossible, that all of this gossip and rumour-spreading showed a lack of respect and that I had already said in no case would he leave the club if the club that wanted him payed the release clause of his contract with La Liga. He insisted that he would help them, that that he wanted to leave and I said to him that that couldn't happen... He not only spoke to me but also with the Vice-President, and it's true that we also reached at the possibility of being able to pay him closer to the amount that Atlético Madrid would, and as such the problem was resolved. They were amounts with which he was completely satisfied, and he sent me various messages saying how happy he was to come to this agreement. He asked me if I could defend him in front of the supporters when he came to sign the contract the following day... That same day he even sent me messages giving his word that he would be here for the next five seasons. He told me that the following day we would talk with his agent, for the entire morning we were preparing that contract. We had a presentation that same day at one and we postponed it until later in order to prepare all the documentation that did not exceed what we have at our disposal, that matched the agreement we had talked about the night before, the amounts, the value, the raising of the clause and some other clause that he wanted to change. His father and his agent gave us the green light, meaning we were only missing his signature which we would get when he arrived in Seville. The player even told me to announce it publicly because he sent me a message giving me his word, however we didn't want to do it until we had the necessary documents from his agent and from his father. That's why we did eventually announce it". 

"The club has made tremendous efforts to keep its captain here... and he has gone back on his word, showed a lack of respect to Sevilla and its fans. As a person, he has let us down"

In this respect, he pointed out that "a player who has been here for four years, to whom we have given everything, who became an international player here... it's not just great anger we feel, it's indignation. The reality is that he has used Sevilla to get more money from Atlético. The reality is that he has left the club in a very bad way, because he has made us look bad in presenting an agreement which he hasn't signed for his own interests, all while breaking a promise. I'm talking about the worst thing you can do, not fulfilling your word... The only thing that I can say is that club has made tremendous efforts to keep its captain here... and he has gone back on his word, he has showed a lack of respect to Sevilla and its fans. As a person he has let us down, because the reality is that he begged us to resolve a problem and what he is done is create one for us". 

"What happened with Vitolo sums up what happened throughout the month of June. There has been public marketing and that is what lead me to come out and say that we would negotiate Vitolo's departure in any circumstances. His surprise refusal to sign and his journey to Madrid makes us disappointed with the attitude of the third parties involved, with the two clubs we have mentioned. What this has done is deteriorate the relationships we have with these clubs, who have been enticing our player to sign", he added. 

"Del Nido Carrasco's resignation: absolute calm, it's business as usual, Sevilla has been running just fine for many years. Some people come, some people go"

Finally, with a change of topic, the President Castro was asked about the resignation of the first vice-president José María del Nido Carrasco, about which he said "this morning I was in Madrid doing some paperwork for the club and when I got back I found out about the surprising news. It's his decision, and I had no knowledge about it, nor do I know his motives, the only thing we can do is respect it. Absolute calm is in order, it's business as usual, Sevilla has been running just fine for many years. Some people come, some people go... and nothing drastic happens. Absolute calm, Sevilla is going to keep ticking on like a watch".