I would say Lainez was a promising player who never panned out. Betis have a pretty good track record in buying players from this side of the Atlantic, at least in the post-Lopera era (may that crazy MF rest in peace). The club don’t drop $14 million on a player for no good reason, again post-Lopera. They bought Guido Rodriguez for $4 million from Club America, the same club as Lainez, right around the same time, and if it weren’t for Guido blowing out his knee they would’ve sold him for a pretty penny. As it is, Guido is still a World Cup winner and possibly off to some cash-poor Catalan club in need of a 6 on a free this summer.
But that’s beside the point. Lainez was playing in Liga MX at the age of 16 for Club America and was bought as a 18-19 year old by Betis, but never could cement a role there. Betis didn’t loan him out for three seasons, so they believed in the talent. He made over 50 appearances but scored a grand total of zero La Liga goals (he scored one in the Copa and one in Europe). He was the youngest Mexican player sold to a European club and the second most expensive. The sense at the club was that he was a good kid who worked hard and performed well at practice but could never translate that to actual games. Maybe it was the pressure or maybe it was lack of comfort being so far away from home. I look at him as more of a cautionary tale about a talented youngster moved out of his comfort zone and not living up to expectations. I do think the club learned something from the experience. Now they reach agreements with players in the Americas well in advance but allow them to stay at their parent clubs for a little while longer, often bringing them over in the winter so they can have a half season plus a summer to adjust. Brazilian Luis Henrique and our own Johnny Cardoso come to mind.
