Argentine side Estudiantes continue to be hopeful that they’ll be able to keep Marcos Rojo at the club.
The defender’s loan from Manchester United expired at the end of last month, but an extension or even a permanent move continues to be negotiated by the sides.
One of Estudiantes’ main arguments is that Rojo himself would like to stay in La Plata. That’s what sporting director Agustín Alayes told the local press on Sunday.
“Rojo’s situation is one of the priorities, because both the player and the club want to stay together, but we have to wait. The reality is that Marcos is a fan of Estudiantes and that he made a great effort to return”, sais Alayes (via Olé).
For a couple of months, there have been rumours saying Boca Juniors would like to sign Marcos Rojo as well, and the Manchester United defender has confirmed the story in a chat with Fox Sports at the weekend.
The 30-year-old has claimed that club president Juan Roman Riquelme has called him to talk about a transfer, and despite the initial excitement, the defender said he’d feel like betraying Estudiantes by making such move (via El Intransigente).
“My idea was to stay in Argentina, I want to continue at Estudiantes, but all this with Boca did happen, they called me from the club to see what I had in mind to do, whether to continue here or return to England, and at first I was moved… Román called me, to me, I was excited, he’s an idol.”
“My old man is a Boca fanatic, I grew up watching him. Román called me and we talked, I told him about the situation and I said I want to stay in Argentina.”
“We agreed to talk, but thinking well, I told him that this is not the time to take a step to Boca. Imagine the people from Estudiantes who received me as an idol.”
“I’m grateful to the club again, the doors were opened to me, the love of the people. I can’t go to Boca now having played only one match, people wouldn’t speak well of myself, of what I am like, I couldn’t do something like that.”
“But a future is never known. Today I say I’m going to play at Estudiantes and I want to play at Estudiantes and if I continue it will be here, but later on it’s not known. Perhaps I end up going to Boca.”
During the quarantine in Argentina, Rojo had already been spotted wearing a Boca Juniors shirt, and that had been enough of a controversy. He now says that was a misunderstanding.
“The shirt was given to me by my brother, this was before Román called me to Boca. They gave it to him and he gave it to me. If I play a kickabout, I use it.”
