Real Betis have a problem most clubs would love. Their number 10 has a 60 million euro release clause, a contract to 2029 and a growing list of admirers in England and France. His medical file is the problem. Abde Ezzalzouli spent 2025/26 producing the best numbers of his career, and he spent large parts of 2025 watching from the stands. Both things are true, and his price depends on which one buyers believe.
Abde at a glance
| Full name | Abdessamad Ezzalzouli |
|---|---|
| Known as | Abde, Ez Abde |
| Born | December 17, 2001, Beni Mellal, Morocco |
| Age | 24 |
| Height and weight | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in), 70 kg (154 lbs) |
| Position | Left winger, right footed |
| Club and shirt | Real Betis, number 10 |
| Contract | Until June 30, 2029 |
| Release clause | 60 million euros |
| Estimated market value | About 17.8 million to 30 million euros, depending on the source |
| Estimated net worth | $3 million to $5 million (Icon Polls estimate) |
| Previous clubs | Hercules, Barcelona, Osasuna (loan) |
| Youth clubs | Peña Ilicitana Raval, Promesas Elche, Hercules |
| Morocco | 36 caps, 2 goals |
From Beni Mellal to the streets of Carrus
Abde was born in Beni Mellal and was about seven when his parents moved the family to Spain, around 2008. They settled in Elche, in the Alicante province, and he grew up in the Carrus neighbourhood playing on the street before local youth sides Peña Ilicitana Raval and Promesas Elche took him in.
That route matters to how he plays. He is not a system winger built in an elite academy. He is a dribbler first, a right footer stationed on the left who wants the ball at his feet and a defender in front of him. When it works, it is the most watchable thing on the pitch. When it doesn't, it looks like a player who hasn't decided what he wants yet.
Hercules, then the call nobody expected
He joined the Hercules academy around 2018 and debuted in Segunda Division B in 2019/20. Barcelona signed him for their B team in August 2021, and within weeks he was training with the first team. On October 30, 2021, he made his debut in a 1 to 1 draw with Alaves, becoming the first Moroccan born player to appear for Barcelona's first team. He finished that season with 10 La Liga appearances.
It was a fast rise, and a crowded squad meant it stalled just as fast.
Osasuna, where he learned to play every week
A season-long loan to Osasuna in 2022/23 was the real education: 28 league games, 4 goals and a run to the Copa del Rey final. It was also where his body first complained, with a muscle injury and a concussion in 2022. In hindsight, that was a preview.
The number 10 shirt at Betis
Betis paid Barcelona 7.5 million euros in September 2023, with Barcelona keeping a 20 percent sell-on clause. His first season brought 26 La Liga appearances. In 2024/25 he managed 2 goals and 2 assists in 32 league games, fine but not the jump people wanted.
Then came 2025/26: 10 goals and 8 assists across all competitions, despite missing chunks of the campaign. That is the season that turned him from an interesting winger into a genuine sale asset. It also came after a summer in which he couldn't play at all.
The injury ledger
Here is the 2025 sequence, and it is not reassuring:
- February 2025: a knock that kept him out briefly.
- March 2025: an ankle injury, roughly three weeks out.
- Late May to mid September 2025: another ankle injury, more than three months out, missing the start of 2025/26.
- November 2025: a further ankle problem, shorter this time.
Four separate setbacks in one calendar year, three of them involving the ankle. For a player whose whole game is acceleration and sudden changes of direction, that is the detail any buyer's medical team will read twice.
A World Cup lost in a friendly
Abde was named in Morocco's 2026 World Cup squad. Then, in a June friendly against Norway, he sprained the internal ligament of his knee, an injury reported to have ruled him out of the tournament. It was a cruel way to miss it. He had been part of the 2022 squad that reached the semi finals in Qatar, making three substitute appearances, and this was meant to be the tournament where he mattered more.
His Morocco record is still strong for a 24 year old: 36 caps, 2 goals, the 2023 U23 Africa Cup of Nations title and a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. If you're weighing where players like him sit among the greats of the game, have your say in our vote for the best football players of all time.
The 60 million euro question
Betis set the release clause at 60 million euros, and nobody seriously expects a club to pay it. Valuation sites put his market value at around 30 million euros as of mid 2026, and reported asking prices have ranged from 25 million to 50 million euros. Aston Villa and Newcastle United have been linked most strongly, with Paris Saint-Germain and even Barcelona also mentioned.
Our view: Betis hold the cards because of that 2029 contract, but the knee injury softens their leverage until he proves he's fit. Barcelona, quietly, win either way through the sell-on clause.
Wages, and what he's likely worth
He signed a five year extension in October 2024. Reported figures put his base salary around 2 million euros a year, roughly 38,500 euros a week, with about 240,000 euros in possible annual bonuses and a total package near 11.2 million euros over the deal. Other estimates of his gross pay start lower, around 1.46 million euros. None of these are official club figures. At Barcelona he reportedly earned about 300,000 euros a year, so the jump is substantial.
No official net worth figure exists. Icon Polls estimates Abde Ezzalzouli's net worth at $3 million to $5 million in 2026, based on his contract earnings so far. A move to the Premier League would likely change that quickly.
Mohammed, and everything else he keeps private
Abde has a brother, Mohammed Ezzalzouli, and that is about as far as public information goes. His parents are not public figures. He has not confirmed a wife, girlfriend or any relationship, and he doesn't use social media or interviews to share that side of his life. We'll respect that.
Short answers
Did Abde Ezzalzouli play at the 2026 World Cup?
He was named in Morocco's squad but was reportedly ruled out after spraining an internal knee ligament in a June friendly against Norway.
How much did Betis pay for him?
7.5 million euros to Barcelona in September 2023, with Barcelona keeping 20 percent of any future sale.
Why does he play on the left if he's right footed?
So he can cut inside onto his stronger foot to shoot or play the final pass, which is where most of his goals and assists come from.
