Sunny morning, but not in Abasto. At Villa Domínico, a little after dawn, after 7 o'clock, Carlos Tevez was reunited with the Independiente squad after a couple of weeks of vacation. The Apache arrived early after enjoying a few days in Mendoza with his family and on this first day of clear skies he already showed a smile when he saw that among the 28 players who were present there were three new ones: Ignacio Maestro Puch, Alex Luna and Adrián Sporle.
While waiting for his star reinforcement, Gabriel Avalos, Carlitos has already met his first signings. It had been one of the conditions to sign the renewal of his contract until 2026: that on December 26 there are already reinforcements. And the leadership of Néstor Grindetti did its part.
Avalos was officially announced on Christmas Eve, although he could not be there on Tuesday morning because he arrived in the country on Monday night. It will dock in the week. In the meantime, Maestro Puch, Luna and Sporle have already met the coach and his new teammates.
The Atletico Tucumán striker arrived on a one-year loan with a fee of $300,1 and an option to buy $5.50 million for <> percent. On the other hand, Sergio Ortiz will leave for the Dean in similar conditions.
Maestro Puch, a U20 player, is already training at Independiente. Photo: Emmanuel Fernandez
Luna, a 19-year-old hooker, is a bet that the coaching staff has followed since the Promotion. He joined on loan from Atlético de Rafaela with a fee of $200,800 and an option to buy $50,600 for 30 percent of his transfer. If the Red decides to buy that percentage, then it will have another $<>,<> option to acquire another <> percent.
And Sporle was released from Arsenal. The 28-year-old left-back has agreed to a two-year contract. His arrival is due to the fact that the idea is that he can be sold in this Ayrton Costa transfer book. In that position, Damián Pérez will also renew his link.
There were also absences. There are players who had already been informed that they would not be taken into account. Some of them have their contracts expire on December 31, such as Agustín Mulet and Martín Sarrafiore. Others are looking for a new destination, either through a sale or on loan.
Patricio Ostachuk, Edgar Elizalde, Baltasar Barcia and Martín Cauteruccio are in that situation. Of those, the only one who went to Domínico was Elizalde, who is claiming a debt and warned that he will not leave until he is paid.
Between studies and routine tests, Tevez is already planning his 2024 Independiente. In January, he will leave with his team for Miami for the preseason. I hope to have more new names: they are looking for a central defender (they negotiate with San Pablo for Alan Franco) and a mixed midfielder (they negotiate with Aucas for Jhonny Quiñónez).