Tuesday 11.6.2024
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Last update 1:51
With two variants looming in advance, Unión awaits the last game before the break. On Saturday, San Lorenzo will arrive on April 15, a great that has a good presence in the Libertadores (it qualified for the round of 16) and also in the Argentine Cup, but in the local tournament it barely added a point in the three games it played until moment since he has yet to play the remaining time of the match with Godoy Cruz and did not have a good time in the League Cup either.
On the contrary, Unión is one of the leaders, it has 10 points out of 12 at stake and got into the group that qualifies for the Sudamericana, being four points behind the Libertadores. Without a doubt, the start of this League has been very profitable for Unión, it calmed the spirits that were not good after a League Cup in which the opportunity was not taken advantage of, at least, to qualify for the playoffs and an elimination from the Argentine Cup that left consequences.
Thinking about Saturday’s game, both Balboa and Bruno Pittón will not be able to play due to having been suspended with a sanction date. Mateo Del Blanco and Lucas Gamba appear as possible replacements, while we will have to wait if all the others are in good condition after the match that was played a little over a week ago in Mendoza against Independiente Rivadavia.
Mateo Del Blanco and the long-awaited return to ownership after the injury he had in the last tournament against Sarmiento de Junín, which left him off the field for quite some time. Against Independiente Rivadavia he played a few minutes, but the expulsion of Bruno Pittón will give him the starting place again.
With this panorama, one could think of Tiago Cardozo in goal; the line of five would be made up of Vera, Paz, Pardo, Corvalán and Del Blanco; In the middle of the field, Luna Diale will return to replace Rivero, which would include Mauro Pittón, Mosqueira and the aforementioned Luna Diale, while the offensive duo would almost certainly be made up of Gamba and Orsini.
Regarding Orsini, both he and Gonzalo Morales have a play-off clause favorable to Boca, although it is estimated that neither of them will be requested in this market and both will continue at the club until December, fulfilling their contract.
For Morales, as with what happens with Pardo and Balboa, Unión has the possibility of making use of the option. Of the three, the one who has the best chances of being acquired is Pardo, taking into account not only his performance, but also his transfer price. Unión intends to buy 50 percent of the economic rights and it is speculated that it could make an offer in these weeks to his representative (the pass belongs to the player and All Boys kept a small part of it).
Both Balboa and Bruno Pittón will not be able to play due to having been suspended with a sanction date.
This week also saw the return of Jerónimo Domina, who participated in the U20 training last week and started the friendly match against the United States. Domina is another of the new features that the squad will have for the match with San Lorenzo, since his presence at the Afa site prevented him from being taken into account for the match with the Mendoza team.
Finally, there is a lot of talk about the possibility that Emanuel Ojeda, the central midfielder who today belongs to the U of Chile, is on Unión’s radar. According to what El Litoral was able to find out, in Unión it is said that there is nothing beyond the fact that Kily González’s interest remains, since he is a player whom he targeted in the January transfer market and at that time he could not leave the University of Chile. Now the situation has changed. The coach does not take it into account or it is not part of his priorities and beyond the fact that he has a contract until next year, he could leave the Chilean institution. He is a central midfielder that Kily knows and who at the U of Chile has also played as a central defender.
Regarding Kily González, he had a try from Emelec of Ecuador, which is looking for a coach, but the Tatengue coach quickly rejected the offer. His bond with Unión expires in December of this year.
If they sell Giay, Luján plays
San Lorenzo returned to work at the Ciudad Deportiva after qualifying for the round of 16 in the Argentine Cup and began the last week of activity before the break for the Copa América. The focus is on the match against Unión de Santa Fe, for the fifth round of the Professional League.
For this match, Leandro Romagnoli will be able to recover a player who could not perform against Chacarita. This is Gonzalo Luján, who was affected by the FIFA date with the Argentina Under 23 National Team and will join the Ciclón practices to visit the Tate on Saturday.
Agustín Giay could be sold to Palmeiras of Brazil.
For his part, Luján, the San Lorenzo defender, started and played the entire friendly on Saturday against Paraguay (4-0 in favor of Albiceleste) and this Monday he added just 12 minutes in the second game against Albirroja, which finished 2 to 0 in favor of Javier Mascherano’s team. Therefore, he will arrive in condition to be used by Pipi if he considers it necessary.
As of now, Luján will not start against Unión. However, that will depend on whether or not San Lorenzo closes the sale of Agustín Giay to Palmeiras before the game. If his departure is finalized, the 23-year-old defender would occupy the Barça right-back at the 15 de Abril stadium.
In San Lorenzo there is already a verbal agreement to renew Gonzalo Luján’s contract, which ends on December 31. This week, if all the details are finalized, the club could make the defender’s new contract official. It would be until the end of 2026.
Zenón getting closer to Paris
Boca continues to move in the transfer market with the objective of adding midfielders as soon as possible – the idea is to have them before July 10 – to face the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana against Independiente del Valle because in that sector they will have several casualties. With Pol Fernández suspended for three yellow cards and Ezequiel Fernández and Cristian Medina as fixed to go to the Paris Olympic Games, Xeneize could be left without the four in the half since Kevin Zenón has more and more chances of being included.
The 22-year-old left-hander was once again considered by coach Javier Mascherano for the last week of training due to his level at Xeneize. The ex-Unión had already been in the coach’s orbit when he played for Tatengue but then he did not have a chance again until now.
Kevin Zenon. Credit: AFA
And after his performance this week with the U-23, the Albiceleste coaching staff is increasingly convinced of taking the Goya-born Corrientes to Paris even though that would mean taking four players away from the blue and gold (the goalkeeper Leandro Brey is another fixture), something that they initially intended to avoid.
The truth is that the coaching staff of the Argentine National Team were delighted with Zenón and spoke highly of his week of work at the Ezeiza facility. Furthermore, in the first friendly with Paraguay, on Saturday at Parque Patricios, he scored a great goal in the 4-0 victory.
Therefore, despite the fact that it was disaffected on Monday, it does not lose its place in consideration. The decision was made because the midfielder had a discomfort from Boca and he was not going to be used in yesterday’s friendly against the Guaraní team.
Even so, when the outlook indicated that it was difficult for him to go to Paris because he was competing hand in hand with Claudio Echeverri, after Enzo Fernández left since Chelsea will not give him up, Zenón makes his way on the list of 18 players who will have to present Mascherano. If this is confirmed, for the key with the Ecuadorians (the first leg will be in the week of July 14 and the return on the 19th) Boca would not have any of the undisputed footballers for the half.
