In the past week, there was a strong rumour in Argentina that Valentín Gómez would leave Vélez Sarsfield and join River Plate.
The operation would happen with the help from the City Group, who would buy him for Manchester City and then loan him out to the Millonario.
It turns out that the whole story is now dismissed by Vélez Sarsfield president Fabián Berlanga. He was interviewed by Vélez a Fondo, and the quotes come from TyC Sports.
“There is no formal offer for Valentín Gómez. They are all rumours. The other time an unofficial offer was made, by word of mouth, from an intermediary of the City Group.
“As that is the word, that for the moment I had no interest, that intermediary was responsible for telling the City Group that the player did not want to play in Argentina, that he wanted to go directly to Europe, so they ended the talks.”
Gómez is a promising defender, and despite being just 21 years old, he already has 87 appearances for Vélez Sarsfield, captaining them in most matches this year.
To see Manchester City buying a talented youngster from a South American side and then loaning him out would be absolutely nothing new, and that’s why this story has been taken so seriously.
The reports about the City Group’s operation had been quite solid, so we shall wait and see if the president is being honest about that. What would probably hurt Vélez more would be to see the player moving to a league rival.
