The amazing starting XI of players sold by Sevilla
Unless its Real Madrid or Barcelona, no LaLiga club is capable of keeping their best players when there is a huge offer on the table. Even Atletico Madrid have sold players like Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao and David de Gea to other top European clubs over the years.
When it comes to selling top players, it is unlikely that any LaLiga club has sold their key players as frequently as Sevilla.
Although Sevilla have sold many top players over the years their incredible scouting network has helped them replace their outgoing stars.
Take for example what happened ahead of the 2013/14 season. Sevilla notably sold Jesús Navas, Álvaro Negredo, Gary Medel and Geoffrey Kondogbia in the summer and still ended the season as Europa League champions.
Over the years they’ve sold so many players that one can’t help but wonder how amazing their team would have been if they didn’t sell their best players.
Note: This XI only features players who were sold by Sevilla and are not currently with the club.
Goalkeeper - Diego Lopez (Espanyol)
Diego Lopez is a product of the Real Madrid academy but he didn’t have the opportunity to break into the first team as Iker Casillas was the undisputed #1 at the club then.
He left Real Madrid to join Villarreal for whom he played 216 times in five seasons before joining Sevilla ahead of the 2012/13 season.
Lopez shared goalkeeping duties with Andrés Palop while he was at Sevilla but he left the club midway through the season to return to Real Madrid as they needed a goalkeeper following an injury to Iker Casillas.
The Spaniard was the club’s #1 till the end of the season even though Casillas returned from injury and he started in goal the following season in the league games.
He left Real Madrid in 2014 to join Milan before returning to LaLiga with Espanyol in 2016 for whom he still plays.
Note: Sergio Rico has not been included because he is only on loan at Fulham