Lionel Scalonithe creator of La Scaloneta, is back Majorca, the place where he has lived since he hung up his shoes. There, although he was super identified with Deportivo de La Coruña, he took a step as a footballer. And that’s where this Saturday received a warm welcome and, moreover, gave an indication of his negotiations with the Argentine Football Federation to renew his contract.

The local club has decided to invite him to the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix to kick off the match against Valladolid, valid for the 16th round of the Spanish league.

That’s why Scaloni entered the field before the start of the match. And it was applauded by local fans. After the caress that came down from the stands, Lio said goodbye to the captains, Antonio Raíllo (Mallorca) and Jordi Masip (Valladolid), and accomplished his mission of kicking off.

As he made his way to the changing rooms, the referees presented him with a local club shirt with the number 5 on it and a group of Argentines stood out from the stands as they started chanting “I’m Argentinian, it’s a feeling”.

Scaloni was interviewed by DAZN journalists and there he gave a hint about his future. “We’re in it,” he hinted when asked about the negotiations with Claudio Chiqui Tapiapresident of the AFA, to renew his contract which expired on 31 December.

And he continued: “The truth is that I am in a dream place for any Argentinean. It’s an amazing place after winning the World Cup. It’s clearly a place where everyone wants to be and I’m happy about it”.

He was also asked how he will face this new stage as DT world champion and the difficulties everyone has to face to stay at the top once the objectives have been achieved.

“Great players, great teams, what they do is always want more. You can’t settle for the past. This, in the end, has already happened. It’s something tremendously beautiful, but it happened. You must always want more. These guys play very well, but they are also born competitors and winners. It will not be very difficult to make him understand that we must try to keep winning ”, she stressed, giving another indication of her willingness to continue the work until the World Cups in Mexico, the United States and Canada which will be held in 2026.

His life in Mallorca

Once he left football, Scaloni decided to stay in Mallorca, which was the penultimate city where he worked as a footballer before ending his career at Atalanta in Italy. Before him, after his debuts at Newell’s Old Boys and Estudiantes de La Plata, he made a career at Deportivo La Coruña, West Ham United, Racing de Santander and Lazio. He settled in Mallorca with his partner, Elisa Montero, with whom he had Ian and Noah, his two sons.

“We, my family, are eternally grateful to Spain. Logically, I spent the best years in A Coruña and it was the first place I arrived and where I became a man, that is evident. Later in Santander I had a very good time, a city very similar to A Coruña, with a similar climate and very warm and respectful people. And here in Palma I’m fine ”, she said in an interview with the local newspaper La Opinión.

And he clarified: “I chose to live here, my family is from here, my wife, my children. It’s a really different place, where you go unnoticed. People are very relaxed and I also have a huge affection for the club, where I played for a year and a half, and where we did quite well, and I have a part of my heart here too. But it is clear that the country in general is like my second home because that’s where I spent most of my life”.