Sevilla sports chief Monchi admits player sales is a reality for the club.

Despite their Champions League status, Monchi says they must continue to sell their top players to balance the books.

He said: "Sevilla is a club that needs to sell players. In football there are no miracles, and to compete with the best, one needs to have a very strong squad full of exceptional players. Seven years ago, the average salary of the squad was €400,000. Today that figure is €1.5 million.

"We have arrived at a time in which we cannot generate much more in terms of revenue. The stadium is full, we cannot sell more tickets. The television contracts are tops behind only Real Madrid and Barcelona. In marketing we are earning ten times more than years past. But even all these sources of revenue combined cover only about 60 or 70% of our liabilities and to cover the difference, we need to sell players who can generate value for the club.

When asked how selling such star players would impact the fans, Monchi said he understood their frustration.

"It is true that there were problems with the sale of our star [Jose Antonio Reyes]. But there were also others in Sergio Ramos, [Julio] Baptista, [Christian] Poulsen, [Seydou] Keita, [Dani] Alves...and yet we continue to win titles and be in the Champions League. We may have to sell star players but we also sign very well and have a very strong youth team."