Madrid (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Bartra, injured in last year’s bomb attack on the team bus, is poised to sign for Real Betis, Spanish media suggested on Tuesday.
“Marc Bartra is about to be announced as a new player for Real Betis,” Mundo Deportivo reported on its internet edition.
According to the newspaper, the 27-year-old Spanish international will be joining on a loan deal with an option to buy.
For sports daily Marca, the deal was initially intended to be a loan arrangement but has since evolved into “a transfer”.
AS said ex-Barcelona defender Bartra “is only a few minor details” away from becoming a Betis player.
On Monday, Bartra was in a German court to testify in the trial of Sergei Wenergold, accused of the April 11, 2017 attack on the Dortmund bus.
Bartra, who suffered a fractured wrist, told the court he had had nightmares since the traumatic event, which left him in hospital for five “terrible” days.
He said the attack had “changed my life”.
Wenergold, a German-Russian, has admitted to remotely setting off three explosions in an elaborate bid to make a fortune on the stock market.
Bartra began his career at Barcelona in 2011-12 but after struggling to get playing time alongside Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano he left for Dortmund in 2016.
