Adiós Señores

By Joel Richards (joel@theenganche.com)

True to form, in this close season there has been the expected exodus of players from Argentine clubs. Coaches, presidents and fans have said ‘adiós’, ‘don’t come back’ or ‘please don’t leave’ to more than 170 players in total. Most of those make up the merry-go-round of loan deals and out-of-contract footballers, but several players have landed the opportunity to move up the sporting, or economic, ladder.

There have been all the typical move taking place that you’d expect from Primera - the Middle East-bound striker in search of petrodollars (Pepe Sand, UAE), the promising youngster snapped up by a modest Seria A side (Pastore going to Palermo), the player who has been linked with a move for so long that when he finally got round to leaving it was the most utterly underwhelming piece of news (Palacio leaving Boca).

So while clubs regroup for the forthcoming season, here’s an at-a-glance guide to who’ll be missing who this season…

Argentinos Juniors – Gabriel Peñalba (Lorient) Few came out of Argentinos’ dreadful season with much credit, but all the same Bichi Borghi will have to make do without this imposing midfielder.

Arsenal – Luciano Leguizamon (Al Ittihad) Swapping Sarandí for sun, sand and $$$ is perfectly understandable, but the Arse will miss his goals and creativity.

Atlético (T) – Josemir Lujambio – Having kept onto most of their squad, the elder statesman of Argentine football has their '13 clubs in 15 years' striker Lujambio leave after playing just one game, suggesting that Lujambio falls into the ‘don’t come back’ category.

Banfield – Nicolás Bertolo (Palermo) – it was high time the 23 year old made the move to Europe. Manchester United were interested at one point, and it shouldn’t be too long before a move to a bigger club comes through.

Boca – Fabián Vargas (Almería) Palacio has gone, but unless Gary Medel makes an immediate impact, it will be the Vargas-shaped gap that Coco Basile needs to sort out in midfield.

Central – Kily González (San Lorenzo) River have Ortega, Boca have Palermo - teams need their old war horses. Central are in the relegation battle from day one, they could have done with Mr. González fighting for their cause.

Chacarita – Victor Figueroa (Al Nasr) The Undertakers had to bring in some cash from somewhere – recently promoted teams don’t exactly get the lion’s share of the TV money, and £1.5m for sounded about right the midfielder.

Colón – Sebastián Prediger (Porto) Diego named him man of the match in the Argentina ‘B’ team against Panama. The hardworking midfielder has joined the legion of Argentines at Porto.

Estudiantes – Mariano Andújar (Catania) The best keeper both in the Clausura and the Libertadores, as well as Argentina’s number one number one... There was little chance of Andújar staying in La Plata for another season.

Gimnasia – Leandro Cufré (Dynamo Zagreb) – The Lobo should have been rejoicing the home coming of an experienced centre back. Cufré had other ideas. Informed by Madelón that he’d have to actually prove his worth for a place in the team, Cufré upped sticks and went to Croatia without playing a game for Gimnasia.

Godoy Cruz - Leandro Caruso (Vélez, via Udinese) Averaging just under a goal every other game for the Mendoncinos, one of the most underrated strikers of last season will be hard to replace at Malvinas Stadium.

Huracán – Javier Pastore (Palermo) The flaco was the heartbeat of the Huracan Globetrotters last season, with grace and goals. Unfortunately for El Globo, he’s not the only player to have jumped ship.

Independiente - Daniel ‘Rolfi’ Montenegro (América) If any team was a one man team last season, it was Independiente. Rolfi, top-scorer of the Clausura 2009, was the one man.

Lanús – Pepe Sand (Al Ain) The stats don’t lie – the Granate will miss the striker’s 50 goals in 67 games for them. Sand, meanwhile, was frank about his reason to leave. “I want to secure my son’s future.”

Newell’s – Hernán Bernadello (Almería) A mainstay for Sensini, the midfielder got the call from D10S to turn out for the B team on the back of his performances, and now tries his luck in Spain.

Racing – Franco Zuculini (Hoffenheim) The Next Simeone/Mascherano™ was sold far too cheaply, and far too early, by the Academia.

River Plate – Radamel Falcao (Porto) With Ortega, Gallardo and Almeyda, River’s team sheet will look like one from the 1990s this season, but for all the oldies class and experience, the Millionaires could do with somebody doing the leg work up front - it certainly won’t be Fabbianni.

San Lorenzo – Cristián Ledesma (Olympiakos) Of the numerous highly-paid loanees in Boedo, it’s Ledesma’s organisation in the centre that Simeone will miss.

Tigre – Pablo Fontanello (Parma) 4 million euros for their centre back was an offer from the Italians that the Matador couldn’t refuse.

Vélez – Joaquín Larrivey (Cagliari) The champions have kept their squad together, and their main loss – Larrivey – has been replaced with Caruso, so expect more of the same from Gareca’s men this term.