On Monday, Ruben Darío Insua’s hair fluttered again in the breeze of Bajo Flores. The San Lorenzo team is back to training after a week of rest at the Ciudad Deportiva under the orders of Gallego, who is already planning the squad for 2023, the year in which he wants to take his challenge to the top and try to fight for the title. And for this reason he has already communicated to the management and to Matías Caruzzo (coordinator of Professional Football) that he considers the continuity of the four players who make up the backbone of his team and whose contracts expire at the end of December: Augusto Batalla, Cristian Zapata, Juan Ignacio Mendez to be fundamental. and Adam Bareiro.
The coach wants them yes or yes to face the four races that will come to him in the next 12 months. El Ciclón will play the two local competitions (one per semester) plus the Copa Argentina plus the Sudamericana. The plan is to get one of those titles, already with the squad formed and settled, plus some experience reinforcements. However, this will depend on the negotiations already underway with the four names to be maintained.
The four essentials
-Battle of August: He’s on loan from River and his relationship ends now. He saved 19 games and scored 12 goals in total. Both his and San Lorenzo’s intention is that he stay. A Núñez welcome a relocation. The purchase option is for $ 1 million, but in Boedo they will try to renegotiate to extend the mandate for another year. The disadvantage in that case is that for this the goalkeeper will first have to renew with the Millionaire. There has not yet been direct contact between the clubs, but there has been through their representative.
-Cristiano Zapata: the Colombian (51 games and two goals) showed all his experience and quality this year. He became the holder of the five-man defense, positioning himself as free. Firmness, anticipation and good play of air. He intends to retire to his country, even if the transition to international competitions induces him to continue a little longer in San Lorenzo and return later. In leadership they are increasingly optimistic.
-Juan Ignacio Mendez: his case is the most peculiar because he only signed for six months when he was released by Workshops. This semester he has starred in 19 games and scored a goal. He has become a fundamental piece of the midfield, being a figure in almost every match. He provided the balance that the team lacked in the center circle. His priority is to make the leap abroad. There are telephone conversations. In Boedo they know it will be complicated but not impossible and they will continue to insist.
-Adam Bareiro: hand in hand with Insua has recovered his level. He was the team’s top scorer with ten goals in the last local tournament (in 26 games). In total, dressed in azulgrana, he amassed 15 shouts in 51 presentations. He finishes the loan from Monterrey and his purchase option is $ 2 million, a high figure for the Rossoblu treasury. Anyway, there are already contacts to try to buy it. The Paraguayan has already expressed his will to continue.
Beyond the football contribution of each, for Insua this poker of players is fundamental for another factor. It is that before the retirement of Sebastián Torrico and Néstor Ortigoza (he will continue to train with the team in November) he leaves an important gap in the locker room.
The captain of today’s team is Federico Gattoni (This week there will be the meeting for the extension of the contract which expires next June) He is just 23 years old and he needs the accompaniment of traveling men to forge a new leadership behind closed doors. And the work of Batalla, Zapata, Méndez and Bareiro, in addition to the contribution of Nicolás Blandi, becomes transcendental in this aspect.
“I was in charge of speaking personally with those who had to renovate and everyone told me they were very comfortable and that the club respected them in everything, “the manager said TyC Sport. El Gallego has already made it clear. And now, with his hair in the wind, he is waiting for good news to look at 2023 with eyes full of hope.
Source: Clarin
