It will become official in the next 24 hours, since Atletico's President was at Sevilla for Puerta's funeral. The agreement is for 2 years with option for a 3rd ... and seems that Roman has agreed for a reduction of his wages to 3 million Euros per year, the same wage reduction he had offered Boca. The transfer would be for 10 million Euros ... Boca had presented an offer that was too low for Villarreal's expectations, something close to US$13 million. The reasoning is that Roman would be a free agent in 2 years ... yet the total amount of the transaction, asked by Villarreal, would had represented Boca something close to US$25 million. The money was there, yet it is very steep for South American standards. Atletico Madrid will have to free one of the non-EU spots they have for Riquelme before Friday. The players that are non-EU at the moment are: Aguero, Fabiano Eller & Cleber Santana. At least we can enjoy watching Roman and Aguero play together. .
I like this move for him. So this means will see him back at boca in 2 years? I mean we all know he will be back eventually
I like it too. I had pretty much lost all hope that he would come back to Boca and Atletico is probably one of the best places he could go to. They made some great signings over the summer. Hopefully they'll do well in the UEFA Cup.
I really didn't expect any resolution in Roman's situation so soon. I must admit I too think this may have been the best team in Spain for him to go to. Real Madrid would've been nice because of the history, but Atletico has some nice players for him to play amongst. Great situation indeed.
Max has a point ... how is Aguirre going to modify his formation and tactics now that he has a 10 like Riquelme or how will Riquelme be used in the 4-4-2??
Awesome news! Roman needed to get out of that Villareal situation badly. Athletico looks like a good fit. I wonder how much that will improve their changes in la ligua.
this deal has fallen through it has been announced on tyc sports and espn deportes you can check it out here: http://vamosboca.weebly.com/1/post/2007/08/riquelme-still-a-possibility.html Boca will make one last attempt to buy him tomorrow before the transfer market in Spain closes
Villarreal making everything difficult? I'm shocked . I used to like the club but they have lost all of my respect.
same here, and this hasn't been only towards Riquelme. Similar things have happened to Arruabarrena and Sorin
It was Closs who reported this earlier this afternoon, even thou there are still 24 hours for it to really fall. Boca doesn't need to make a move tomorrow. Their extension at AFA can delay as Rosales when he arrived to River. Some time next week would be fine for it to materialize. That is the main card that Boca has been holding to compete with the European clubs. But non of it has been mentioned in Spain, which had radio talk shows being aired at the same time as Closs'. And the little info reflected on those wires indicate that they are echoing what Closs reported. He obviously didn't reveal his source ... Lets hope this is the real strategy, to fake a transfer for it to fail when there is no more time in Europe ... leaving Boca as the only destination. .
I'm surprised but in the same vein, I'm not. Villarreal has bent themselves over a barrel by making it clear that they'll never play Roman again. So what club is going to ante up knowing Villarreal is about to be stuck paying a player that they wont play? Really this could be the best situation for BOCA from a financial perspective. We'll see how things play out over the next day.
I'm finding it difficult to understand why Villarreal are making it so difficult for Riquelme to leave the club. On the one hand they have made it abundantly clear he will not play for them again yet at the same time they seem to keep putting obstacles in his way whenever it looks as if he may secure a move. This is even odder when you consider Villarreal will have to continue to pick up his considerable wages. A move to Atletico would have been great for Riquelme, I still wouldn't be surprised if it comes of as Villarreal may be playing a game of brinkmanship.
Main reason Villarreal is being so difficult is because it's a Spanish club making the offer. They know that they'd only be making the competition stronger and the last thing they'd want is for Roman to come back and torch them much like he did when he faced Barca after his transfer from them. The question Villarreal need to ask themselves is whether it suits them to lose money (don't forget Barca still gets a chunk of any transfer fee Villarreal may secure) or just pay the guy to not play. The latter scenario is not likely to happen so the only option they are going to leave themselves is to lose money to club that won't come back to haunt them (BOCA).
Moishe, I live in England and there has been talk of Riquelme spending the season on loan at Everton, which in my opinion would be a disaster as his game is not suited to the EPL. Obviously it would be great if he comes back to Boca, but failing that a move to Atletico would be great.
I completely agree about a potential move to the EPL being a disaster. Roman fortunately has the final say in any transfer/loan so hopefully he would realize that the EPL would do more harm than good to his game. I too agree that Atletico would be a very good place for him or for that matter most any team in La Liga. I would just like to see this whole telenovela settled once and for all.
Thanks for the response. Outside of spanish and english, I'm pretty much lost when it comes to foreign languages. Hell I struggled with hebrew for my bar mitzvah and that had financial ramifications too None the less, good to hear that the issue will be resolved and is good for Roman at the same time.
Well so far Motta has officially signed with Atlético but there is still no word on Riquelme. But I do expect that to change within the next couple of hours or so. Because there really haven't been any reports over here in Europe that Villareal couldn't come to terms with Atlético about him.
The deal with Atletico is not done at all ... actually it is closer to falling apart at this time, 6 pm in Spain. It is the coach, Aguirre, who is oppossed to the signing. There was an interest from Everton, but we know that Roman won't take it ... Boca's extension in AFA was until yesterday ... but we all know that after the precedent with Rosales last semester, this can be extended for a few more days or until necessary. It is in AFA's/NT's best interest that Roman plays. The latter is something that Boca knows for a long time. It could be the reason why they haven't offered Boca as a solution yet. But at 7 pm US EST, England's transfer window closes. Suddenly, the ball could be on the court that Boca always wanted ... it is either Roman sits and Villa pays for it ... or Boca takes him and pays his wages. We all knew this was going to be a soap opera. And seems that Boca knew the soap opera would play in their favor, as well as Roman's. .