The river players hugged Enzo Fernández for his goal against Fortaleza at Castelao stadium in Brazil. Photo: EFE/Jarbas Oliveira
At River they already knew that offers were coming for Nicolás De La Cruz and Enzo Fernández. And the alarms rang. Marcelo Gallardo could miss two key midfielders from his squadat an important stage of competition, in the midst of the Copa Libertadores and the start of the Professional League.
The subject is Enzo Fernandez. For Gallardo this is key to what is to come and now no replacement. There is no other similar player on the squad. And there aren’t too many players of his style either. Very complete. He has good hitting, filtered passes, steps into rival areas, gets goals and collaborates in recovery.
Once River’s coach finds a replacement for Exequiel Palacios, he could be removed from the European market. It’s only been almost a year since Fernández returned from Defense and Justice, where he has matured and his game has grown to definitely strengthen himself on the River.
At the age of 21, Fernández was already called up to the national team led by Lionel Scaloni. Y is in the crosshairs of big clubs in Europe. Real Madrid is one. Manchester United, another. And the rest is Manchester City, which will surely speed up the next transfer market to eliminate it.
The cover of the newspaper Récord de Portugal highlighted Enzo Fernández.
When Clarín found out, the City Group will make a big offer and does not remove its reach Fernández’s termination clause, worth 20 million euros. If this comes true, Enzo will be joined by Julián Álvarez and both will be directed by Pep Guardiola. Of course, the only way to go is if they enforce the clause because River is not willing to negotiate with it right now.
For its part, The De La Cruz thing isn’t much of a concern because of Núñez They were already alerted to his situation, as there was a verbal promise that if an offer came for the Uruguayan in the next transfer market, he would have a free hand to negotiate. And offers will come from Fenerbahçe in Turkey and Real Sociedad in Spain. And there could be many more.
Besides, there is an agreement with the business group (owned by Uruguayan Paco Casal) represents De La Cruz for an exit to the next transfer market that it will not change even if the midfielder signs the renewal of his contract with River (which will expire at the end of the year), whose talks are advanced.
Regarding the possible departure of De La Cruz, Gallardo considers that he is covered by the large number of midfielders he has, beyond the fact that each has its own characteristics. With so many midfielders, Muñeco believes Agustín Palavecino could be the one to play in the Uruguayan area.
Uruguayan De la Cruz has numbered his days on the River. Photo: AFP
Beltran returned
As happened last year with Enzo Fernández, in the middle of last year he returned from Defense and Justice before his debt was paid, Lucas Beltrán returning in Colón’s time. The striker’s loan to the Santa Fe club will end at the end of the year, but because of the good performance he has and River needs strikers, Marcelo Gallardo wants him back in his squad, so the management of the Núñez institution will use the repechage clause. This way, Beltrán will return to the Núñez club.
Source: Clarin
