I’ve been away for a couple of days, hence the lack of updates yesterday, but with it being pre-season not much of interest has been happening anyway. Except for two developments in the transfer market. Last week, I told you with some scepticism that the British newspaper The Independent had reported Ángel Di María’s imminent arrival at Salamanca, en route to Arsenal. Well, it seems I was right to have my doubts (which were based on the fact that no-one else in England or Argentina even hinted at the move), because on Saturday, Di María signed for Benfica of Portugal, for €6 million.
The fee is for 80% of Di María’s registration, and is the biggest transfer fee Rosario Central have ever recieved – Central keep the remaining 20%, which effectively means they’ll get that chunk of whatever Di María’s next transfer fee is – potentially a goldmine. Benfica have beaten Boca to his signature, after the Xeneize offered US$6.5m (the difference is more or less US$2.5m), and Andrés Díaz will also be travelling to Lisbon as part of the deal.
Boca do have a link to one other transfer rumour – their idol Juan Román Riquelme was named on Friday as the possible next signing for A.C. Milan, with the Italian press claiming negotiations for Riquelme’s signature have already begun. Riquelme doesn’t have an EU passport yet, but can apply for one due to the four-and-a-half seasons he spent with Villarreal. Milan need to hand in their squad for the coming Serie A season on the Tuesday coming – and Riquelme could be joining up with the likes of Kaká and Andrea Pirlo in their midfield. Watch this space…
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