Riquelme Stays in Villarreal

By Carlos Drechsler
June 9 2005

The revelation of the Spanish League last season has reached an agreement with Barcelona over Juan Román Riquelme. Villarreal have acquired the 80% of the Argentinian midfielder for a fee of 5 million euros.

The player has signed a contract with the club for four seasons and will receive 2.5 million euros per year.

Villarreal has had an excellent season in the Spanish league and in the UEFA Cup, and Juan Román Riquelme played a very important role in achieving such great results, becoming an indispensable part of the team. His future was uncertain, since his loan deal was close to the end and rumours linking him to Atlético de Madrid appeared.

But Villarreal managed to convince Barcelona on a definite transfer and now the Argentinian will stay in El Madrigal until 2009, with an option to renew the contract for a further year.

Riquelme showed this season in Villarreal the same class he showed when playing for Boca, where he won almost everything and caught the attention of the world. Now he and Villarreal will participate in the UEFA Champions League and thus have the opportunity to prove everyone what they are up to. He feels right at home there and is surrounded by South American teammates like Juan Pablo Sorin, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Diego Forlán and Manuel Pellegrini.