DE MADRID & VILLAREAL Argentine International midfielder
JUAN ROMAN RIQUELME have come - in principal - to an
agreement concerning his transfer.
Atletico & Villareal had already OKed the transfer, what was missing
was Riquelme´s Ok. It seems both parties have an agreement with a
2 year contract & an option of an extra year.
All the details of transfer price & salary are not clear still, but what looks
almost certain is that Riquelme will be an Atletico de Madrid player.
This causes a problem, with Riquelme the club, it has 5 extra-Euro
community players, one more than the allowed by UEFA. Atletico
will have to get rid of a player & that looks like being Fabiano Eller.
MOTTA/MARQUEZ NEWS:
Atletico & Fc Barcelona have an agreement over Thiago Motta. The
problem is the player who cannot decide if he wishes to stay in Spain
or Italy, were he also has an offer from AC ROMA. Stay tuned!
Lastly, Fc Barcelona will not let go their Mexican defender Marquez.
5 comments:
Riquelme is a class act - good signing indeed. Not a dribbler of the ball, but with pacy players around him like Reyes and clever players like Garcia his passing is just what Atletico need.
I wonder if his head is in Spain though after his declaration that he would play for Boca 'for free'?
His performance in the Copa America prooves how good he can be if he is motivated to the cause.
The trick with this guy will be to manage him correctly.
Like all star players :)
Cheers, nice to see you in
I'm not so sure about Riquelme. When he has space, his talent can not be denied, and for his talent alone most teams would be thrilled to acquire him. But his track record in Spain has not been so good. He constantly showed up MIA to go back to Argentina, would skip practices and games alike without permission, and was constantly butting heads with his team and his coaches.
But back to my first comment - "when he has space..." Riquelme is also notorius for being a non-factor in big game settings. Opponents usually man-mark him and get aggresive in the midfield, and Riquelme lacks the imagination to squirrel his way out. Part of the reason he likes Boca so much is that the pace of Argentine football doesn't allow that kind of strategy - he gets his space, he performs brilliantly, and they worship him like a god. No wonder he keeps running back to Buenes Aires.
So if the deal is really hinging on Riquelme's ok, I won't hold my breath.
Nice angles John. Thanks
John I absolutely agree with you and I would like to add 2 more arguments:
1: He doesn’t deliver in key games. Maybe my memory is bias and I only remember the games and key plays that confirm my argument.
2: I don’t feel he is the player Atletico needs. They’ve signed players to play on the outside (Garcia, Reyes, Simao) plus the recovered Maxi. Riquelme feels more comfortable playing inside. ¿Will he replace Agüero? I don’t think so. But who knows?
The fact is that maybe this is Aguirre’s thought since he delivered a very good season (his only one in Spain) playing with Forlan at Villarreal. Forlan was the goal scorer that season.
Which raises another question: Where does Jurado fit in this entire scheme? Wasn’t Jurado the “steal of the century”? A promising young player raised by Real Madrid that crossed the border. This transfer was put as an example of how badly managed was Real Madrid and how efficient was Atletico’s back office. In view of Riquelme’s arrival who fooled who with Jurado?
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