Andrés Guardado reveals why Diego Lainez has struggled at Real Betis | OneFootball

One of the most outstanding young players to come out of the Club América academy is, without a doubt, Mexican midfielder Diego Lainez, who made his Liga MX debut at 16 before being sold to Real Betis last year at the tender age of 19.

There were sky-high expectations after his €14m move which, unfortunately, he has not lived up to, fuelling rumours that he could return to América on loan in the near future.

El Tri and Real Betis team-mate Andrés Guardado has been there to support Lainez and recently revealed that Lainez still has a lot to learn.

“I always told him to work, work and work. Not to speak because, beyond that, you may be angry for not playing, that’s another thing.

“It is time to learn, to be a sponge, to learn from everything they tell you.

“If he knows how to handle this situation and is successful tomorrow, he will learn a lot from this. He is training better every time, it is reality.

“I told him that perhaps he came tactically distracted, very disordered. What they told him to do tactically he did not do. He has been learning that and grasping the key concepts.”

Lainez has only been on the pitch for 441 minutes across 13 games (four starts) in all competitions this season, only making offensive contributions in the first round of the Copa del Rey against third-tier CA Antoniano.