The Mexican soap opera has come to an end. And now it's official: Ángel Correa is a River player. The club's leadership from Núñez reached an agreement with Tigres, with the transfer totaling 15 million dollars all in.
With this, Eduardo Coudet now has his sixth reinforcement, as Correa joins Mauro Arambarri, Giovanni González, Rafael Santos Borré, Lucas Beltrán, and Nicolás Otamendi, who will soon join the squad after having played in the World Cup. Angelito had already begun packing his bags and will arrive in Argentina this Thursday for his medical examination and to sign a contract that will run until December 2029.
The final hours were complicated, as after an agreement had been reached on Tuesday, everything was put on hold at the last minute because Tigres had changed the terms of the transfer. However, throughout Wednesday, after tempers had cooled following the accumulated frustration, both sides resumed exchanging messages and emails.
Correa himself helped break the deadlock by playing hardball. After training with the team led by Argentine coach Guido Pizarro, he said his goodbyes to his now former teammates, the coaching staff, and the employees at Tigres' sports complex.
Pizarro, manager of the northern Mexican club, already knew he would not be able to count on him. In fact, he had not called him up to travel last week to Tijuana, where Tigres lost 3-1 to Xolos in the opening matchday of Liga MX.
This despite the fact that he considered him the team's main star, as the former San Lorenzo and Atlético de Madrid forward had an outstanding previous season in which, although he fell short of winning a title, he led Tigres to the finals of both the Mexican League and the Concachampions, losing both — against Toluca and on penalties, respectively.
At a press conference ahead of the first matchday of the new season, Pizarro had already mentioned the possibility of Correa leaving for River. He already knew the player's mind was set on Núñez. The Tigres executives had to come to the same understanding, as they were well aware that the player's desire was to be sold to River.
At the same time, the Mexican club needed money to settle debts and reinvest in new signings. Yet they still made things more difficult for Correa, even as River showed willingness to raise their offer — the first bid was 10 million dollars, then stretched to 13, before finally closing at 15.
Now, Coudet awaits Correa. He was a reinforcement he wanted at all costs. In fact, El Chacho had already been in talks with the player for a couple of months. He believes Correa can elevate the quality of the squad and provide an unpredictable edge in the final third of the pitch.
