River’s preseason leaves a significant deficit

River midfielder Claudio “Diablito” Echeverri will not be part of the season with Martín Demichelis’ team, as he will have to travel to England to finalize some paperwork with Manchester Citythe entity that acquired it and expects it in 2025.

The Premier League club made a payment of 25 million euros at the beginning of the year to take over the contract of the “jewel” from Núñez and although he gave him a contract until June 2028, he left him on loan for a year in the “Millonario” team.

Although Echeverri He started working with the team, but the truth is that he will not continue with the team, as he will travel to Manchester to finish resolving some issues related to his next team.

But this does not end there for River, since after these procedures, the footballer will not return.

The midfielder will travel to Paris to join the work of the Argentine Under 23 team led by Javier Mascherano.

There, Echeverri will compete in the Olympic Games in the French capital and once this is over, he will return to join Demichelis’ team, which will face the round of 16 without his star player.

This is not the first time that he has missed the preseason: due to his call-up to the tournament in which the Albiceleste got a ticket to Paris, Echeverri was unable to be with the squad in the preparation they carried out in the United States, because after having traveled with his teammates he had to abandon the emergency concentration after the call from the AFA.

River, more millionaire than ever

The midfielder Esequiel Barco, who played 127 matches with the shirt of River Plate and scored 17 goals, He was sold to Spartak Moscow for $16 million.

This is a very significant sum in the current state of Argentine football, which covers 100% of the salary of the 25-year-old footballer, born in Villa Gobernador Gálvez, near Rosario.

In addition, River had paid 11 million dollars for the player’s transfer, so it was a great deal.

The playmaker will make his debut in European football, having been sold to Atlanta United for 15 million dollars after his brief appearance at Independiente in 2016, which he crowned by winning the 2017 Copa Sudamericana. After four years in North American football, River decided to acquire him on loan and, subsequently, make use of its purchase option.

Barco will not be the first Argentine player to join Spartak, but will join a list that includes defenders Clemente Rodríguez, Marcos Rojo, Nicolás Pareja and Juan Insaurralde, midfielders Cristian Maidana and Tino Costa and forwards Fernando Cavenaghi and Ezequiel Ponce. All of them arrived at the club between 2005 and the present.

Among the names circulating to replace the skilled midfielder are: Bruno Zapellifrom Athetico Paranaense of Brazil, Benjamin Dominguez, from Gymnastics of La Plata; Pedro De La Vegafrom the Seattle Sounders of the United States, and Lucas Robertone, who currently works in Almería, Spain.