Players who end up “hanging”: a fable with many villains and no heroes

Some leaders said enough is enough. They set a limit, stood up and decided to “hang” players who do not renew their contract to leave with the pass in their possession and negotiate their transfer to another club themselves. The most resonant case is that of defender Sergio Barreto, from Independiente. But he is not the only one: Huracán did something similar with Lucas Merolla and San Lorenzo tried it with Federico Gattoni.

What is notable about these situations is how the players reach a limit instance, they are released, without a contractual bond, which enables them to change their shirt without their transfer leaving a penny in the club’s treasury. Or, actually, the question would be how is it possible that there are leaders who can be such nonsense. Or, perhaps, why the players’ representatives are empowered to carry out the situation to such an extent that it harms the clubs.

The road map is repeated in all the clubs: a player has months left to finish his contract, he begins to negotiate the renewal, the leaders offer him an improvement, the player rejects it, time passes, the intermediary considers possible destinations, the player is enthusiastic, the managers exceed the first offer, more time passes, the negotiation is delayed, the deadline arrives, the player keeps the pass in his possession, says hello, posts an emotional farewell tweet and negotiates a transfer. In this sequence there is only one loser: the club of origin, which does not receive a penny for the player who left.

Independent. The bleeding that occurred in recent years was enormous. The most recent casualties are those of Leandro Fernández, who was released from Rojo for the second time and sealed with Universidad de Chile, and Alan Soñora, who arranged for him to join FC Juárez in Mexico. Sergio Barreto aims for the same destination, but the leaders put a brake.

The defender has ten months left on his contract and the interest shown by Boca in this latest book of passes was decisive. The representative Adrián Palma pressed for them to sell it, but the president of the Red, Fabián Doman, explained that a satisfactory offer did not arrive. Since then, the renewal to extend the contract has stalled.

This week from the Avellaneda club they announced: “Those players with whom it is not possible to reach a beneficial agreement for both parties that result in the extension of the contractual link that binds them to the institution, will not be taken into account to integrate the formation of the first team”.

There are four members of the squad in this situation: Tomás Pozzo, Rodrigo Márquez, Braian Martínez and Barreto, who already announced that he was removed from the first team and today against Vélez he will not even be on the substitute bench. “We love Barreto very much, but the club is above any name, including mine,” Doman explained.

This endless wheel of Independiente players who are released exposes a paradox: the majority are inferior. It happens that in each book of passes they offer juicy contracts to the footballers who incorporate and relegate those who are formed in the club. So, when that player from the lower ranks consolidates in the First Division and has to renew his contract, he also claims for the years that he had much lower salaries than his teammates.

Hurricane. The case of Lucas Merolla is a mirror of that of Barreto: he is also a defender, he was also wanted by Boca, he is also “hung”. The biggest difference is that the contract expires in June, therefore it will only be four months that they will have to train alone and without the possibility of playing Professional League games.

The Riga club, from Latvia, had offered 1,500,000 dollars for the pass, a figure that was closed to David Garzón, president of Huracán, however, the defender did not close the proposal. And he does not intend to renew with the Globe either. For this reason, yesterday there was a decisive meeting. The leaders discussed positions with the defender, they did not reach an agreement and they stood firm: Merolla will continue training alone, but from Monday he will have to do it in reverse, without contact with his teammates.

San Lorenzo. In the Cyclone the conflict is with Federico Gattoni. He has not yet renewed his contract, which expires in June of this year, nor has the sale of him to Sevilla of Spain materialized, for which reason the leadership asked coach Rubén Darío Insua to separate him from the professional squad.

Insua, however, was focused on the defender for today’s game with Godoy Cruz. “He is focused just like the rest of his classmates. Later we will see if the documentation that he is pending to be among the 23 is finished, if not, no. It is feasible that he will go to the bank if the whole issue of the papers is resolved,” Insua said at a press conference.

Beyond the reaction of the San Lorenzo coach, the truth is that there are leaders who concentrated on standing firm before the players and their representatives who intend to strip the clubs of their heritage.