“Micho” arrived in our country this Tuesday and hours later he met with the team manager, Enzo Francescoliand the leadership to seal his contract.
Demichelis was received at the Ezeiza Airport by River security employees and went to the Monumental offices to begin the first hours of his management, which will be officially presented on Wednesday.
River’s new coaching staff will be made up of Germán Lux and Javier Pinola (he announced his retirement in the last friendly against Betis on Sunday in Mendoza and joins the working group), Alejandro Saccone as goalkeeping coach and Flavio Pérez as physical trainer .
Demichelis will get to work with the squad on December 12 when the preseason begins at Potrero de los Funes in San Luis and then he will travel to Miami to continue the preparatory work from January 3 to 18, with three friendlies.
The River leadership has in mind to organize a meeting at the Ezeiza de River Camp property between Gallardo and Demichelis, after the signing of the contract, as a transfer of command and as a symbol of continuity of the project.
The first decisions that Demichelis must make have to do with contractssince at the end of the year the ties of Jonatan Maidana -who wants to continue playing-, Juan Fernando Quintero, who has a high purchase clause, and Tomás Pochettino, in the same situation as the Colombian, expire.
Meanwhile, the new DT has assured the continuity of Nicolás de la Cruz, who renewed for three seasons, and of Ezequiel Barco, whom River must buy from Atlanta United because he exceeded 75% of the games played.
On the other hand, they will be able to have Felipe Peña and Robert Rojas available, who returned to play in Marcelo Gallardo’s farewell friendlies after long recoveries due to torn ligaments and fractured tibia and fibula, respectively.
In addition, 10 players will return from their loans and must also be evaluated by the coach, including Crístian Ferreyra (he will not continue at Newell’s), Alex Vigo -who returns from Independiente- and Agustín Fontana -returns from Defensa y Justicia-.
Also on the list are some youth players such as Elías López, who was already in friendlies with the squad; Tomás Galván, who is returning from Defense, and youth defenders Tomás Lecanda, Thomás Gutiérrez and Augusto Aguirre, among others.
Demichelis’s official debut would be on January 29 in Santiago del Estero for the first date of the League Cup against Central Córdoba. A week later he will play again as a visitor against Belgrano and only on February 12 will he be at the Monumental against Argentinos.
Source: Ambito
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