Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has explained why the club both bought and sold Emerson Royal in the same transfer window.

The Blaugrana paid Real Betis in order to take full ownership of the full-back, who was then sold to Tottenham shortly after.

With Barca in a precarious financial situation, however, the Dutchman felt he had enough depth in Royal’s position to sanction his sale for the benefit of the club.

He told Sport: “I wanted to help the club and an example of that was the sale of Emerson. I told the club that if they could make a profit then they should sell Emerson because we have [Sergino] Dest, [Oscar] Mingueza and even Sergi Roberto.

“There are undoubtedly more positive than negative things. If I didn’t want him to go, I would have said: ‘No, he is not moving’.”

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