River Quietly Strengthens Squad for Copa Libertadores Pursuit

River works in silence to try to strengthen the squad

Suddenly, thanks to Boca’s loss to Estudiantes, River’s days became much more bearable. Stripped of the sadness and tension that surrounded him after losing the Superclásico in the quarterfinals of the League Cup, the Millionaire now thinks exclusively about the Copa Libertadores and no longer about the possibility of his greatest rival making the Olympic return. : Estudiantes won the final against Vélez this Sunday in Santiago del Estero. But River – its coach and his leadership – knows that the team needs reinforcements to have stronger arguments to go for the fifth Libertadores in history.

The pass book this time will be open for three months: from June 1 to August 30. There will be plenty of time for teams to bring in new faces. And River will go out to look for a minimum of three and a maximum of five reinforcements.

For now, it is already on track to qualify for the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores: it has an ideal score after the first three games and is already six points ahead of the third in Group H, Libertad of Paraguay. And the round of 16 matches will be played between August 13 and 15, the first leg matches, and between the 20th and 22nd, the return matches.

River set a goal: to finish as the best or as one of the best first to be able to define the greatest number of series possible with the support of more than 84 thousand people at the Monumental stadium. He doesn’t want what happened to him last year, when he had to play the rematch of the round of 16 against Inter in Porto Alegre, where he was eliminated in a penalty shootout. As much as possible, he intends to play the revenge of the round of 16, quarterfinals and a hypothetical semifinal at the Monumental, which could also be the venue for the final on November 30 even if the millionaire team arrives there.

The idea is to look for a center forward to compete with Miguel Borja. EFE/ Juan Ignacio Roncoroni

Now, what positions does River aim to reinforce?

The priorities will be a central marker and a center forward. And a midfielder and an experienced goalkeeper could also arrive to have as a qualified alternative to Franco Armani.

A bonus track dreamed of by the leadership is the return of Gonzalo Montiel, the only right back for whom they will make an attempt. Montiel, who appears on the radar of Flamengo in Brazil, plays for English club Nottingham Forest and will return to Sevilla mid-year. The world champion’s priority in Qatar 2022 is to continue in European football, but River will still try to get his services because they consider it a leap in quality for the position.

River has Andrés Herrera and the Uruguayan Agustín Sant’Anna for that position, for which Sebastián Boselli, Santiago Simón and even Milton Casco also passed. However, none of them managed to establish themselves as undisputed starters.

In the last few hours the name of a goalkeeper who could become an alternative to Armani emerged. This is Ignacio De Arruabarrena, a 27-year-old Uruguayan goalkeeper who plays in Arouca (Portugal) and who also has Argentine citizenship through his parents. He will have the pass in his possession in June and is a specialist in saving penalties: he blocked six in the current Portuguese League, in which his team is in seventh position. In addition, they kicked 16 penalties and conceded 9, while he has the historical record in Portugal of saving three penalties on three consecutive dates.

Ignacio Arruabarrena plays in Arouca and can reach the Millionaire. (Photo by Pedro Loureiro/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

In 2020 he played the U-23 Olympic Qualifiers in Colombia for the “Charrúa” team and is one of the goalkeepers closely followed by Marcelo Bielsa for Uruguay. In that competition, which was a qualifier for the Tokyo Olympic Games, he made a severe mistake in the 1-1 draw against Brazil on the second date of the final home run by giving up a goal against.

“I am aware of River’s interest. My father, who is my representative, told me. And I am excited about the idea of ​​taking a shortcut in River,” De Arruabarrena told La Red radio.

For the central scoring position, the name that is most popular is Germán Pezzella, who wants to finish his career at River and is waiting for the club to accelerate. Pezzella, 32, renewed his contract with Betis, where he is captain, until 2026 but at the same time he winked at River: he managed to lower the termination clause of his contract from 50 million euros to four. “This was done thinking that River could have the possibility of repatriating him at hand,” one of the world champion’s trusted people in Qatar 2022 told Infobae.

The attacking midfielder that Martín Demichelis likes is the Uruguayan Luciano Rodríguez, 20 years old and wanted by River in the previous transfer market. Also wanted by Palmeiras, Rodríguez currently plays for Liverpool in Uruguay and his level has declined compared to last year. Will that help River to be able to hire him for a figure less than the 15 million dollars they asked for last year?

For now, the Millionaire has already taken the first step. Matías Patanian was in charge of letting the player’s representative, Mauricio Machado, know, who visited him at the camp in Uruguay, where River stayed ahead of the duel against Nacional. A meeting with more leaders of River and Liverpool de Montevideo is expected this Tuesday. Although there is good predisposition, the Argentine club competes with Girona from Spain.

Iker Muniain could be one of River’s top reinforcements

The Spanish hitmaker Iker Muniaín, who will leave Athletic Bilbao in June after fifteen seasons, wants to fulfill his dream of playing with the red band shirt and River is already aware of that through Omar Rodríguez, his representative. For now, it is more of a wish for the 31-year-old footballer than a specific search by the club. However, the millionaire leaders affirm that it is an alternative that they do not rule out in any way.

Muniaín is such a River fan that on December 9, 2018 he escaped from the Athletic Bilbao camp to attend the historic final of the Copa Libertadores at the Santiago Bernabéu that River beat Boca 3-1.

In the previous market, River tried in vain to hire three top center forwards: the Colombian Rafael Borré, Lucas Alario and José Manuel López. Now he will look for another of similar renown and the Paraguayan Adam Bareiro, San Lorenzo’s scorer, appears as an alternative in the draft of the technical secretariat led by Enzo Francescoli and Leonardo Ponzio.

Gonzalo Montiel is the great desire of the leadership

The Chilean Alexis Sánchez? His contract with Inter in Italy is ending and he told his representative that River will be his priority when he decides to return to South America. He is 35 years old and has not decided what will become of his future.

River works in silence to try to strengthen a team that lately misses the presence of leaders on the field in the most demanding matches, especially after the departures of Enzo Pérez and the Uruguayan Nicolás De La Cruz.

2024-05-07 00:54:06
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