River step up chase for Fausto Vera, Gallardo’s top midfield target | OneFootball

The Millionaire has already initiated the first contacts with Atlético Mineiro to arrange a loan with a purchase obligation for the former Argentinos Juniors player, whom Gallardo sought at the beginning of 2025.

With specific goals in mind, River has already entered the transfer market to strengthen a squad that has suffered the loss of several key players. And one of its first targets is, once again, Fausto Vera, a long-standing desire of Marcelo Gallardo. The Millionaire has already had initial contact with Atlético Mineiro and opened negotiations for a loan with a purchase obligation.

In the new purchasing policy led by Stefano di Carlo, the intention is, initially, to seek loans that lead to permanent transfers once certain objectives are met, to avoid paying exorbitant amounts for players who end up not being part of the team. In this vein, the first proposal was made to Galo, who now has the ball in their court.

The truth is that, recently, Vera lost his place at Atlético Mineiro and the club would be willing to negotiate, although with the intention of recovering the nearly five million dollars invested in mid-2024. Now it remains to be seen if they accept working on a loan or if they will demand the purchase of all or part of the transfer. According to the specialized site Transfermarkt, his current market price is five million euros.

This is not the first time the Doll has requested the former Argentinos Juniors player. Besides some approaches when he was still at the La Paternal club, the coach insisted on his transfer in January of this year. In fact, there were contacts with his entourage and with the people at Mineiro, but ultimately the negotiations never even began.

In recent days, Vera was asked about a potential transfer to River or Boca, and his response made it clear that he was interested. “I know the greatness of both clubs, from a sporting perspective, it would be a big step in my career”, he stated in an interview with DSports Radio.

His stance regarding January has changed, as today his position in the Belo Horizonte team is not the same. After his arrival from Corinthians at the request of Gabriel Milito (his former coach at Argentinos), Vera had six months of significant prominence. He was the central midfielder of the team that reached the 2024 Copa Libertadores final, which even eliminated Gallardo's River with a resounding victory.

But 2025 found him regressing. He started as a starter, but gradually lost his place, and now, with the arrival of Alexsander from Al Ahli, Jorge Sampaoli does not consider him a priority. In fact, he did not play in the Copa Sudamericana final against Lanús, and if you add the last two rounds of the Brasileirao, .

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.