All the roads in Boca led to Fernando Gago. Everyone assumed that next week he would return to Argentina and become the successor of Diego Martinez. However, in the last hours of this Saturday and a while before Chivas de Guadalajara faced Atlas for the MX League, peaked He kicked the board and left the blue and gold planet upside down.
When asked about the rumors that linked him to the club where he was born as a footballer, Gago was forceful. “I’m going to clarify it to be honest: I didn’t have any offers, no calls… Neither from people close to me nor from those around me. I don’t know where this information comes from,” said former Racing and Aldosivi coach bluntly.
The statements made to Telemundo Deportes on Mexican TV in the run-up to the classic against Atlas quickly rebounded on Argentine social networks that replicated the interview. “For me this was a very calm week of work. It was a normal week, prior to the classic, a lot of sensations and emotions because everyone wants to play. That is the mentality we had during the week,” Gago tried to minimize.
However, at the insistence of the interviewer due to the rumors that in Argentina they take Gago’s landing in Boca for granted, the Argentine coach elaborated on details. “No one contacted me. I don’t know where that came from. I had no contact with people from any club. It hasn’t happened, no one communicated,” Gago reiterated.
Distrustful from the TV studio, the host was more specific: “So can we ensure that you will stay until the contract is fulfilled?” he asked. “Let’s see: we lose five games and he may not be there anymore… Or we could stay seven years. It is today, day to day. I don’t know why this rumor was established,” said Gago, who has a contract until December with the Mexican club.
The coach’s statements came after his arrival at the Akron stadium, where he was received by his own fans with whistles and boos.
Until the recent statements were made known, the president of Boca, Juan Román Riquelme, hoped that Mariano Herrón’s interim position would not extend beyond today’s match against Argentinos.
The original idea was for Gago to arrive on Monday and sit on the bench for matchday 18 in the visit against Tigre or, at the latest, in the clash against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata for the quarterfinals of the Argentine Cup. Afterwards, it would be his baptism in the Bombonera against Deportivo Riestra.
Gago, 38, started his career as a coach at Aldosivi. In Mar del Plata, he directed 26 games with a balance of 7 wins, 3 draws and 16 losses. His team scored 30 goals and suffered 45.
In Racing he was at the helm for almost two years and accounted for 109 games, with an efficiency of 58 percent of the points and two titles: Champions Trophy 2022 and International Super Cup 2022, both in definitions against Boca.
“I have a contract with the club, I didn’t have any offer from anyone”was the last thing that Gago repeated in the television interview before the match with Atlas, which in La Boca they expected to be the last. Now we have no choice but to wait to find out if Pintita changes her mind or if Riquelme has to go out and look for another coach.