It’s fair to say Boca Juniors are a little bitter towards Brighton & Hove Albion right now, and so are the Argentinian press.
Clarin cover the situation around the club and their league in general after Valentin Barco’s exit and impending departure of Benjamin Rollheiser, and the daggers are out.
Barco completed a move to Brighton earlier this month following months of speculation about his future.
The Seagulls eventually, and almost reluctantly, ended up paying a $10m release clause for the talented full-back after negotiations with Boca failed to work things out amicably.
There’s been plenty of consternation since, with the player criticising Boca, the club criticising the player and Brighton generally being seen as a club who swooped in to take advantage.
Clarin continue the latter today, explaining how Brighton, a ‘club with very little history’ were able to get Barco ‘without much effort’ despite him being considered a gem for the future.
They lament the state of Argentine football that clubs need to sell to survive and how Barco is just the latest in a growing line of players to depart, with most of the stars of 2023 now heading elsewhere.
That’s something they clearly feel Brighton have taken advantage of, with it lamentable to them that a small club with no history can get their best talents and effectively be bigger and more attractive than the biggest sides in Argentina.
The despair is real, and they say there are no ‘remedies’ to the problem, with the best set to leave in future too.
Whether Brighton will care is another matter entirely, but the barbs are being sent out either way, with the Argentine press clearly unimpressed that Barco has ended up a Seagull.
