Arturo Vidal shakes up Chilean football and returns to Colo Colo

King Arthur

returned

.

After days of uncertainty, where rumors and conversations took unexpected turns, midfielder Arturo Vidal, one of the most outstanding footballers of his generation and one of the most important in Chilean sports history, made his return to Chile this Monday. Colo Colo, a club of which he is a youth player.

The former Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich and Juventus player has negotiated his contract with Blanco y Negro, the sports limited company that he manages through a concession to the Chilean team.

The 36-year-old player had expressed his intention to return to the institution that trained him as a footballer, but contractual discussions limited the speed of the negotiations.

Vidal, a regular user of the Twitch platform, has directly informed the fans of the

albo

team about the progress of the conversations.

“I'm not here to retire, if I wanted that I would come at 40. Now is the time to fight for things and put Colo Colo where he deserves,” the midfielder said last Friday.

The Chilean national team also took to Instagram to send some indirect messages – mostly replicas of comments from his followers – towards the Blanco y Negro leaders.

The tone of those writings worried the fans, who saw how the signing was in danger.

Fears of a fall in the negotiation grew even more when it emerged that one of the blocks of the concessionaire, headed by businessman Leonidas Vial, asked to carry out the protocol medical examinations in a clinic other than the one usually used by the club.

This detail - which took the player's patience to the limit - was corrected, since this Monday the

King

underwent medical checks in the facility where all the recruits pass.

With that procedure completed, the president of Blanco y Negro ratified the signing of Vidal.

“I want to announce with pleasure that we have reached a complete agreement with Arturo Vidal.

He had two medical tests, which came out positive, and to welcome him to the club, we are very happy,” he said.

The manager, who is in Uruguay accompanying the team in a series of friendlies scheduled in Montevideo, has also announced that the footballer will be presented this Tuesday.

Minutes after these statements, the institution's social networks gave the first signs about the signing.

𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐳𝐚 𝐞𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐞𝐠𝐨 👑🔥 pic.twitter.com/wazF8qrpRQ

— Colo-Colo (@ColoColo) January 22, 2024

The soap opera concluded after the athlete agreed with the club on the conditions for his incorporation.

Specifically, the

King

will have a salary of 91 million pesos (100,000 dollars) per month, making him the highest-paid soccer player in Chilean soccer, as reported by local sports media.

One of the most discussed points of the deal was the extension of the contract, since the footballer wanted to sign for two years, while the concessionaire offered him only one.

Finally the

King

agreed to sign for only one year.

The frustrated signing to América de Cali

During the 2023 season, Arturo Vidal was part of the Paranaense squad in Brazil, a team where he played little due to an injury.

Faced with this reality, the Chilean began to look for options, mainly in South America.

The first candidates were Boca Juniors from Argentina and Olimpia from Paraguay, teams that would have shown interest in incorporating him.

In the midst of uncertainty about his future, the midfielder received a tempting offer, which almost distanced him from the option of returning to Chile.

América de Cali, one of the historic institutions of Colombian football, had offered him an irresistible proposal both in annual remuneration and in the extension of the relationship.

The negotiation was so advanced that some of the team's sponsors carried out promotions to advance the player's arrival in Colombia.

The conversations dragged on and América de Cali withdrew, arguing a change in recruitment priorities, which finally focused on the search for a new coach.

“Despite all the efforts that the institution and the sponsors have made, an agreement has not been reached with Arturo Vidal.

Therefore, we give up on continuing with his signing,” said Marcela Gómez, president of the Cali institution.

🔊 Statements from our president, Marcela Gómez on the topic of Arturo Vidal and technical direction of the professional team.

pic.twitter.com/WCO2yDXc59

— América de Cali (@AmericadeCali) January 16, 2024

A long-awaited return home

The return of Arturo Vidal has shaken Chilean football that is in crisis and is unable to take off in international competitions.

In recent years, the local championship teams have failed miserably in their participation in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, the most important tournaments on the continent.

King

Arthur

had not played in the Chilean pastures for more than a decade.

Being part of the Colo Colo youth team, he debuted as a professional in the

Alba

squad during the 2005 season. Two years later he left for Germany and signed for Bayer Leverkusen.

In 2011 he arrived at Juventus, a team where he became a fundamental piece of the midfield.

After winning the 2015 Copa América with the Chilean team, he joined Bayern Munich.

In August 2018, the Chilean took another fundamental step in his European career by signing for FC Barcelona.

With Barça he won the 2018-2019 League and the 2018 Spanish Super Cup. The midfielder ended up leaving the club through the back door, after being discarded by coach Ronald Koeman.

In December 2019, months before leaving, the athlete had reported the team to the Joint Commission of the League and the AFE for the alleged non-payment of around 2.4 million.

The amount would correspond to bonuses for variables from last season and which would not have been paid by Barça.

Vidal's career continued with a spell at Inter Milan – his last club in Europe – and with his joining Flamengo.

With the Brazilian institution, the Chilean won the 2022 Copa Libertadores title. At the beginning of the 2023 season he joined the Athletico Paranaense squad.

Idolized by Colocolinos

fans

, the

King

hopes to repeat at home all the successes he achieved abroad.

The Monumental stadium, the coliseum owned by the

chief

located in the municipality of Macul, in the southern area of ​​Santiago, is preparing for one of the most anticipated returns of the last decade.

So is the rest of Chilean football, which with its arrival hopes to escape mediocrity and a lethargy from which it needs to wake up.

Subscribe here

to the EL PAÍS Chile newsletter and receive all the key information on current events in the country.