What are the ups and downs of the squad that Diego Martínez, the coach chosen by Riquelme, will find?

After becoming the new president of Bocawith 65.3 percent of the votes in its favor, the new era Juan roman riquelme put first. After leaving behind the legal conflicts and delays in the date of the elections, the idol is already thinking about the future. Thus, the focus is already on assembling the squad for 2024 at Xeneize, which promises to have a great turnover starting with the arrival of a new coach, Diego Martinez.

Outside of the Libertadores due to its meager campaign in 2023, Xeneize’s main objective for next year will not be aimed exclusively at the international level, where it will try to conquer the Sudamericana. Riquelme and company’s project is to support the former coach of Tigre and Huracán to have a team again hero and dominant in the Argentine tournament.

To do this, Martínez will have a tough job: outline a squad to his liking to achieve his idea of ​​the game with the pressure imposed by the so-called “Boca World.” In the middle, there are senior figures who arrive and several well-known faces who would seek a new destination in this transfer market.

Some movements are already confirmed. Others depend on negotiations that will accelerate starting this week when the start of a new cycle of the ruling party was confirmed in Brandsen 805. The start of practices in Boca is on Tuesday the 26th, when the players finish their vacations and meet their new coach, who has been working for several weeks even though he has not yet signed with Xeneize because he has not finished sealing his departure from Huracán.

Despite the fact that most of the team members are on vacation, there are already three names who will not return to training at Boca Predio.

Is about Facundo Roncaglia, Diego Octopus González and the youth Rodrigo Montes. In the first two cases, the experienced players will be left with the pass in their possession after the board of directors has not presented, for now, the intention to renew the contract that bound them to the club until December 31.

For his part, Monte, a 23-year-old midfielder who debuted with Sebastián Battaglia in 2021 and played 10 games in the League that year (scoring a goal), could not maintain his level, he went through Central Córdoba and will now be loaned to a Primera Nacional club: he will continue his career in the north of the country wearing the Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy shirt.

In Boca they are clear: for players to arrive, others will have to leave; and the absence in the Libertadores, something that stopped departures in recent markets, will motivate several footballers to look for new destinations. Of course, there are names that Xeneize will try to retain regardless of the offers that arrive in the short term, and that will begin to be heard now that it is known that Riquelme is in charge.

One of the most notable names in 2023 was Luis Advíncula, and it is said that clubs with strong economies such as the Brazilian Santos and Corinthians would be interested in the 33-year-old full-back. However, Boca is willing to make an effort to retain the Peruvian and renew his contract that expires in December of next year.

Another desired footballer, in this case for Europe, is Valentine Boat. The 20-year-old youth player also signed a contract until December 2024 and his clause of 10 million dollars is a temptation for the powers of the Old Continent. There is talk of interest from Brighton, who would be willing to take him as soon as possible. Manchester City is also mentioned. Given this scenario, Xeneize’s idea is to give Colo a new contract, transform him into the highest paid player on the team and continue accompanying his growth process in a club where he will add minutes.

Different is the case of Frank Fabra, who although it is one of Román’s weaknesses, has his future as an unknown. His expulsion in the Libertadores final against Fluminense left him in a bad light in front of the fans and he did not play again after that bitter afternoon at the Maracaná. Nobody doubts the talent of the Colombian full-back, who has two years left on his contract, and it is expected that some important club will invest a good amount in dollars to recover him.

Martínez will inherit a long squad, with players who alternated in 2023 and will have to decide whether to fight from behind or look for more minutes in other destinations. That list could include Dario Benedettoat the same time as other footballers like Vicente Taborda, Juan Ramirez, Norberto Briasco y Marcelo WeigandtEverything will depend on the evaluation made by the new coach and the dialogue with the Football Council.

Pipa’s situation is particular: he did not manage to recover his best performance and ahead of him he has Miguel Merentielgreat season, and Edinson Cavani, the great star of the team. However, days ago, he launched a challenging post on social networks warning that “the only club where he would play in South America is Boca.” It was his way of denying a possible transfer to another team in Argentina and, at the same time, suggesting that his future could be a return to Mexico or landing in the MLS.

What Weigandt has to do with the trust placed in Advíncula and the recent purchase of Lucas Blondel (coincidentally directed by Martínez in Tigre), two players with whom he competes in the position. It is worth remembering that Chelo already had a good experience last year when he went on loan to Gimnasia, and that he recently had calls from Independiente to have his services.

Although there are still no formal announcements and the Football Council is just settling into its offices after the boost that the elections meant, there is a name that is increasingly closer to Brandsen 805: Ever Banega.

The 35-year-old Argentine midfielder, champion with Boca de la Libertadores 2007 and part of the National Team squad in the 2018 World Cup, is about to terminate his contract with Al-Shabab of Saudi Arabia with the intention of returning to the country. His dream is to close his career with the shirt that saw him born and he is willing to leave petrodollars behind in order to fulfill it.

The situation is different Arturo vidal, 36 years old, who was rumored until it was confirmed that Boca will not play in the Libertadores, but his arrival began to cool down taking into account what not participating in that tournament will mean for the club’s accounts. His quality is undisputed and his desire to play in La Bombonera was reflected on several occasions, but his physical condition is unknown and he would occupy a foreign place. It will be Riquelme and Martínez who determine whether King Arthur is worth accelerating.

The bet on Yeferson Soteldo It has much more support due to the age of the talented Venezuelan midfielder: 26 years old. The footballer who went viral this year for stopping on the ball in the middle of a match but who has been adding seasons at a high level with his national team, is looking to leave Santos after the historic relegation of the club where Pelé and Neymar Jr. shone. They say that The new Boca will be with a hitch, and Soteldo is a variant that seduces. The problem? A high salary and in dollars, something unavoidable when hiring figures from abroad.

More earthly are the names of the players who stood out in Argentine soccer and would welcome reaching a great team like Boca. One of them is Rubén Bottafrom the descended Columbus, and another is Kevin Zenon, of Union. In addition to being separated from shirts in Santa Fe, the distance between them is in experience or youth: the Sabalero’s hitchhiker is 33 years old while the young promise of Tatengue is only 22.

Chilean is also very interesting Rodrigo Echeverria, a central midfielder having a great year in Huracán who would be an express request from Martínez. Although the problem in his negotiation is the discomfort of the Globo leaders over the DT’s decision to change Parque Patricios for La Ribera.

Without counting the possible incorporations, there are several names with a blue and gold past who have the obligation to return to the club after finishing their assignments in other teams. Between the players, the leadership and the coach they will define what will be best for them in the future.

One of them is Gonzalo Maroni who returns to Boca from San Lorenzo, where he raised his level a lot thanks to the filming he gained from the hand of Gallego Insúa.

In parallel, two boys who already know what it is to be under Martínez’s orders will return: Aaron Molinas y Agustín Obando. Both came to Tigre at the request of the coach, who knew them from Boca’s youth teams, and they are an alternative to staying in the club.

Registrations, cancellations, renewals and returns, everything revolves around the decisions made by the Football Council and coach Diego Martínez, who already works as if he were the club’s coach although he has not yet managed to separate himself from Huracán. The issue is being resolved between the lawyers, trying to get the numbers resolved in Parque Patricios.

The idea in Boca is that the situation be resolved as soon as possible taking into account that there is only one week left before training with the Xeneize first team begins. The elections have passed, the new coach arrives and the squad is defined, in Riquelme’s club he begins to talk about football.