After a long wait, Maximiliano Meza arrived in the country early Thursday morning and from Ezeiza airport, he went directly to the nearby River Camp where at noon he had his first practice under the orders of Marcelo Gallardo. The new millionaire reinforcement, who arrived from Rayados de Monterrey of Mexico, will be a starter in the rematch against Talleres de Córdoba next Wednesday 21st at the Monumental stadium for the return leg of the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores.
The former Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata and Independiente midfielder went straight to practice without undergoing the usual medical check-up in these cases because he arrived from Mexico with a physical that was approved by the River Plate medical services. Meza is the seventh reinforcement to join the squad in this transfer market and the third since Gallardo’s return to the technical direction, along with Germán Pezzella and Fabricio Bustos. His transfer was finalized for two million dollars and he signed a contract until December 2026.
Since all the documentation was already submitted in due time and form by River to Conmebol, Meza was included in the list of players in good faith for the Copa Libertadores and will have no problems playing against Talleres. But on Saturday at 17:30, the Millionaires will have to play against Gimnasia in La Plata for the eleventh round of the professional league championship. Therefore, it is possible that Gallardo will arrange some rotation and form the team with a majority of players who did not participate in Wednesday’s victory in Córdoba.
Those who have the best chances of resting against Gimnasia are those who were starters in the last two matches against Huracán and Talleres. Such is the case of Germán Pezzella, Paulo Díaz, Enzo Díaz, Rodrigo Aliendro, Claudio Echeverri and Franco Mastantuono. If this is the case, Leandro González Pires, Milton Casco, “Nacho” Fernández and Manuel Lanzini would have a good chance of starting playing in the Bosque platense. On the other hand, Gallardo is waiting for the recoveries of Facundo Colidio and Miguel Borja, who missed the last two matches due to injuries and could be kept for the rematch against the Cordobans.
On the other hand, it has been revealed that two giants of Brazilian football, Flamengo and Sao Paulo, are interested in the transfer of left-back Enzo Díaz. Sao Paulo has already contacted the player’s representatives to offer him a contract, but River has not yet received a concrete proposal, which should not be less than four million dollars in order to move the operation forward.
At left back, River has Milton Casco and the young Franco Carboni, who arrived in this market and was not included in the list for the Cup. But if a deal is closed for Enzo Díaz, the club would go for a new reinforcement to replace him. The names of Malcolm Braida (San Lorenzo) and Román Vega (Argentinos) are the priorities for Gallardo. In the case of Braida, goalkeeper Augusto Batalla could be included in the transfer, who returned to the club after his time at San Lorenzo and Granada, but he will not be taken into account by the coach.
