It attracted attention that Mouth he made no moves in the transfer market. Beyond some negotiations that failed due to Sergio Barrettothe young Independiente defender who was never close, it was known Hugh Ibarra he needed experience to strengthen the defence. For this reason, beyond the fact that everything happened at the speed of light, it wasn’t too surprising when it was learned that the Paraguayan Bruno Valdez He would be the new face of the team.

Why not surprised? Because Valdez, who passed his medical on Monday morning and will show up in the next few hours after signing a three-year contract, is exactly the type of defender Boca needed to face all the commitments that await him in 2023. With the national team experience in his country’s national team and with six years of experience in América, one of Mexico’s heavyweight clubs, he should have no trouble adapting. Because you know: the La Ribera club gives you everything except time.

Valdez has the DNA of the Paraguayan defender. Strong, with an aerial game to be won in defense and attack, he is a guarantee of confidence. And not only when it comes to saving one’s goal, but also in the opponent’s box: in Las Águilas he scored 27 goals in 227 appearances and can boast of being the foreign defender with the most goals in the history of the club.

Born on the outskirts of Asunción, in Fernando de la Mora, the Chineseas they have called him since he was a boy, he was trained in the minor divisions of american sun. In that team he made his debut in the First Division and immediately captured the attention of Cerro Portenoone of the greats of Paraguayan football, with which he was crowned local champion in 2015. And from there, the following year, he made the leap to Aztec football. America paid about three million dollars for his services. And there he has been directed, in recent times, by the Argentine Fernando Ortiz, who emerged in Boca, who has given excellent references. He comes to cover the gaps that have arisen due to the injury of red frames and the abrupt departure of Charles Zambrano.

It measures 1m81 and weighs 80 kilos. This also allows him to have speed and also a good reading of the game which allows him to anticipate his rivals. The proof of his rigor when it comes to playing has been visible to all in the last few hours when a video has gone viral on the networks. entry in English Jack Grealish in a friendly between América and Manchester City during the final break.

He is right-footed but can play well in both back positions. Also, both in his starts and in the Paraguayan squad, he has served as a right-back scorer. The first to call him was Ramón Díaz. He played South American qualifying matches and played in three Copa América (Chile 2015, USA 2016 and Brazil 2019). He has 32 games and one goal, although until last November, when he was called up by Guillermo Barros Schelotto, he hadn’t been called up for almost three years.

What was the reason for your prolonged absence in the selected team? It all started when in August 2020 he suffered partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and partial tear of the medial collateral ligament after the Dutch vincent janssenof Rayados de Monterrey, fell on his left knee.

He went six months without playing and missed 23 games. It was the most serious injury of his career, aside from a torn ligament that had abused him in 2016 and a muscle injury that had plagued him last September and had caused him to miss five games. Of course, in recent months he had lost the role he had played in his first campaigns with America.

Which led him to look for a way out, beyond the fact that he had a contract until June. He was attracted by the possibility of joining Cruzeiro in Brazil. And that was to be his fate until Boca crossed paths with him and he didn’t hesitate.