Riquelme and Angelici when the last contract was signed

Boca President, Daniel Angelici has said that the deal to keep Juan Román Riquelme at La Bombonera for another 18 months is 99% done. After weeks of contract talks and rumours, Riquelme could finally ink the new deal that he has been waiting for. The doubt that remains comes from the substantial offer presented by Brasilian side, Sport Recife.

Juan Román Riquelme undoubtedly proved his worth to Boca Juniors during the Torneo Final, in which some wonderful individual performances dragged the side to victory. The clamour from the fans was to give the club legend a new deal and although Angelici did not share the enthusiasm he appears wise enough not to ignore the thousands of voices.

An 18-month contract is thought to be signed by Riquelme shortly although there had been some disagreement previously over the length of this deal. The 35-year-old enganche has spoken of a desire to play until he is 40 and Boca were understandly cautious to give such an extensive contract given his injury troubles.

It is safe to assume that Riquelme would prefer to play out his career in La Bombonera, where he is adored but there is a potentially lucrative offer on the table from Brasil.

Sport Recife Vice-President, Arnaldo Barros confirmed that “we have already proposed a project to the player’s agent (Daniel Bolotnicoff) and now we are waiting for a response.”

This project that he refers to is apparently backed by Adidas and other sponsors which could see them paying the salary of Riquelme, reportedly $310,000 for 18 months in addition to a cut on shirt sales.

With Recife claiming to have a response this week and Angelici claiming a deal with Boca is 99% done, we should finally know very soon where Riquelme will be playing next season.