Marcelo Gallardo’s return as coach of the ‘Millonario’ revolutionized the entire River Plate world and, in football, the management seeks to provide him with the tools so that the club from Núñez can once again live its golden age as it was in the first stage of the native of Merlo.
For this reason, after the hierarchical arrivals of Fabricio Bustos, Maximiliano Meza and the world champions Germán Pezzella and Marcos Acuña, River would go in search of another Argentine with experience in Europe and in the process of Lionel Scaloni as coach of the Argentine National Team: Lucas Ocampos.
The ‘Millonario’ management would go for the forward if Gallardo’s team eliminates Talleres de Córdoba in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores. River has the advantage in this series since it won 1-0 in the first leg at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium.
Likewise, the River Plate club would have an advantage in the negotiations with Sevilla of Spain, the owner of Ocampos’ transfer, since the Andalusians have an old debt with the ‘Millonario’ for the transfer of Gonzalo Montiel and that would facilitate the operation.
As for the player, the key will be the forward’s desire to return to Argentina and to prioritize River over offers such as that of Rayados de Monterrey of Mexico, managed by a River Plate native like Martín Demichelis.
Ocampos made his River debut in 2011 when the ‘Millonario’ started their journey in the Primera B Nacional against Chacarita Juniors. That season for the club from Núñez in the second category of Argentine football, the 30-year-old striker exploited his potential and was sold to Monaco in France for 16 million euros.
From there, Ocampos built a career with ups and downs in Europe where he played for teams such as Olympique de Marseille in France, Genoa and Milan in Italy, Ajax in the Netherlands and Sevilla in Spain, a club to which he has belonged since July 3, 2019.