Gerardo Martino described Independiente captian Federico Mancuello as the best domestic player earlier in the month and said it would be an injustice not to call him up to the national side for the forthcoming friendlies. However, it appears that injustice was going to happen until Fernando Gago limped out of Boca Juniors’ victory against Defensa y Justicia on Saturday evening and now the Rojo icon is set to be named among Lionel Messi and the rest of the squad for the scheduled matches against El Salvador and Ecuador in the United States.

Gerardo Martino named his 22-man squad of European based players last week and is expected to confirm a further three players from the Argentine Primera this week. Despite praising Mancuello highly that was expected to be Fernando Gago, Maxi Rodríguez and Ramiro Funes Mori.

Gago was forced out of Boca Juniors’ most recent victory with a muscle strain and will no longer be considered and so it is now reported that Mancuello will get the call-up. The Independiente captain missed their last game through injury but is back in training and is expected to be fit for El Rojo’s next league match.

The first call-up would be a great reward for the 25-year-old midfielder who has emerged as the star player in Jorge Almirón’s Independiente side. In their first season back in the top flight, Mancuello netted ten times to be among the league’s top goal scorers and he looks to have continued that form into this season. His impact on the Independiente side can not only be measured by his goals though after he took the captain’s armband from Daniel Montenegro showing a much greater maturity in his central midfield role.

Martino hinted that any of these call-ups would only be short-term and not for the Copa América but it is still a great honour for Mancuello.

Joining him will reportedly be Maxi Rodríguez, who is obviously no stranger to the national team, but is still performing to a high standard with Newell’s Old Boys and River Plate defender Ramiro Funes Mori. Maxi adding another cap to his current tally of 57 is in no way controversial but the place of Funes Mori is slightly more perplexing. The 24-year-old has not enjoyed a very good start to the season and finds his place in the River side under threat after a string of mistakes.

Argentina play El Salvador in Washington on March 28th and Ecuador in New Jersey on the 31st. These additions to the squad are expected to be officially announced this week.