Joaquin pleads with Fiorentina to sell him to Real Betis – ‘I don’t understand why they’re doing this’.
The winger has made it clear he wants to return to his boyhood club, but the Viola insist he’s not for sale.
“I want to return to Betis, I can’t play for Fiorentina anymore,” Joaquin told FirenzeViola.
Joaquin pleads with Fiorentina to sell him to Real Betis – ‘I don’t understand why they’re doing this’.
The winger has made it clear he wants to return to his boyhood club, but the Viola insist he’s not for sale.
“I want to return to Betis, I can’t play for Fiorentina anymore,” Joaquin told FirenzeViola.
“I want to tell you the truth. I never thought I’d be going through something like this at the end of my career. I don’t understand why they’re doing this.
“Everyone is talking about me, but there’s no truth in what they write. I’ve been on the transfer list since last year, when I was training alone.
“I don’t understand why they’ve changed their mind now. I don’t understand why they’re doing this to me, to the team, to my teammates. Also to the Fiorentina fans, who are supporting me.
“When fans stop me, they say to me ‘it’s understandable you want to go home’, I can’t understand why Fiorentina can’t understand this.
“I’ve made a decision, I was on the market so it’s normal that I’ve made this choice. No-one can decide for me, and I’ve decided to go home.
“I want to go back to Seville, where I’m happy. Maybe the problem is that no-one asked me. I was told I was for sale, and I decided to go to Betis. The die is cast, I can’t go back.
“My heart is in Seville, I can’t play feeling like this, I can’t help my teammates with this state of mind. They wanted to send me away in January, but I stayed because I knew I could be important.
“I knew it was an important time for me to show what I could do, and I decided to stay. I wanted to help the team at an important time.
“Now it’s the opposite. I miss my family, I miss Betis and I miss my city.”
Joaquin admits the reason Fiorentina are dragging their heels is that Coach Paulo Sousa would like to keep him.
“The Coach wants to keep me. I understand, but the situation has reached a point where there’s no logic.
“The fans have all told me that I can go calmly, because I’ve played my way into their hearts with my performances and professionalism.
“That’s something that makes me happy, it excites me, it gives me goosebumps. I want to end with that beautiful situation, not with grudges or anger.
“Will Fiorentina let me leave? If they are smart, and if they are good people they will. They have to understand that I’m a player with a 16-year career, I deserve to go home.
“I’ve given everything for this team over two years. I gave everything for the Viola shirt.
“I’ve wanted to go back to Betis for five years. I’ve wanted to back since I left. It’s a decision made with my heart, I want to go back because my family and my football family are there.
“I didn’t think it would create this mess, they [Fiorentina] put me up for sale. For two months I trained alone, no-one came to talk to me.
“I’ve shown that I wanted this shirt, now I’m showing that I want to go home. Why won’t they let me be happy?”