Could It Be Simeone After All?
By: Christian | November 29th, 2007
It appears MLS may have a say in who the next coach for River will be.
Diario Olé reported that representatives for D.C. United were in Buenos Aires today hoping to complete the signing of Estudiantes’ and Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastián Verón in a deal that could be worth 10 million dollars. Rumors of Verón joining D.C. have been floating around for months, and after several well publicized rows with the club’s directors throughout the past year, Verón’s time with El Pincha looks indeed to be coming to an end. A move to MLS makes sense; his European career is over, and it is doubtful he would join another team in La Primera. D.C. United meanwhile has had a fantastic record in signing players from South America such as Christian Gómez and Jaime Moreno, and even at 32, Verón still has enough left in the tank to have a huge impact in the US.
So what does this have to do with River Plate? Yesterday Diego Simeone, the current coach of Estudiantes and one of the favorites to take over as manager at the Monumental, publicly stated that unless the board in La Plata were willing to give him at least 4 reinforcements for next year’s campaign in the league and the Copa Libertadores, he would leave. He did not speculate where he would go, but the ultimatum seemed to imply River. Now even with any potential new signings, the loss of their key-playmaker and captain would be a huge blow and perhaps reason enough for Simeone to seek another post elsewhere.
Personally, I would love to have Simeone. He led Estudiantes to their first Apertura title in over 20 years in 2006, and since taking over has had a perfect record against local rivals Gimnasia, including a 7-0 thrashing that championship year, all of which has endeared El Cholo to the Estudiantes faithful who are now desperate to hang on to him. Yet his instincts as a manager, not to mention his distinguished career both at the club and national level, make him a fine candidate to reverse the fortunes at River.
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