Costas revealed why Juanfer Quintero left Racing for his national team before :: Olé

A lot of commotion was created last week over the departure of Juan Fernando Quintero to his national team. It had been very striking that the club let him leave one day before the crossing with Deportivo Riestra, and also left as a clear signal that today he is not a priority as a starter in Gustavo Costas’ head. After the agonizing victory over Cristian Fabbiani’s team, much celebrated, The coach revealed how it was decided that the Colombian would join the national team, even before Miguel Borja: the River forward will be added to Néstor Lorenzo’s team after this Sunday’s game against Tigre.

“Juanfer asked me to go. We have the best relationship. The truth is, I say it from the heart. He is someone I love very much. He came to talk to me and showed himself as a person beyond just a player. Spectacular. And since he wasn’t playing much here… The Colombian federation had requested it and “I told him okay, he should go train,” Costas explained. And he immediately clarified: “But it’s not that he is all bad. He is a guy who is very involved with us too.”

Racing received the order from Colombia this Wednesday and it was accepted after a meeting between leaders, steering wheel and coaching staff. With the hope of being on the final list of names for the Copa América, Since Friday, Juanfer has been working with the Pre-selection ahead of the friendlies on the 8th and 15th of this month against the United States and Bolivia, both in the northern country.

Quintero stopped being a starter in Racing and that raised doubts about his continuity in the second part of the year. With a contract valid until December 2025, the player evaluates what to do with his future. At the club they assure that the desire is for him to stay, but under the hood no one dares to guarantee that this happens.. Of course, for this not to happen, specific offers from other clubs must first appear because the player belongs to Racing. The Avellaneda entity incorporated him with the agreement of a payment of 3,500,000 dollars that included the purchase of his pass (he arrived free) and salary. That is, if you leave before, Acadé will not pay that entire amount.

The creative midfielder lost his place among the 11. Without him as a starter, Racing won the greatest number of games and achieved direct, spatial, dynamic football, all traits that are not in line with the characteristics of the man in question, owner of a undisputed talent when it comes to pauses, filtered passes and elaboration. “As far as I know, he’s not leaving. We need Quintero like everyone else. With Juanfer we have another way of playing… I hope he has 10 points, when they come in everyone has to be at 100%,” said the coach after the win over Sportivo Luqueño, for the Sudamericana.

A few days later, some media from Colombia began to take it as a fact that the footballer made the decision to continue his career in that country, something that was never confirmed from the player’s environment or the leadership. Between trips to his country due to his wife’s health problems and an injury (right adductor strain), Quintero performed from the beginning for the last time on May 2. It was when the Academy lost to Talleres de Remedios de Escalada in the very tough elimination in the Argentine Cup.

He entered in the second half against Argentinos, Tigre and Sportivo Luqueño and already missed the game against Riestra. Nor, furthermore, will they be against Lanús, on Thursday the 13th, on the fifth date, the last before the interruption of the League due to the Copa América. So far this year, Quintero has played 19 games in all competitions, starting 12. And he scored four goals, all for the local tournament.