Court rules for Boca again in Almendra case, owes club $769,000 | OneFootball

The courts ruled in Boca’s favor in the Agustín Almendra case, and the player will have to pay the club $769,231 plus interest and legal costs. The first-instance ruling, handed down at the end of November, had already been favorable to the La Ribera club, and after the appeal by the midfielder, now at Necaxa, the decision once again went Boca’s way.

Boca filed the complaint after the player left the club on bad terms. Following a heated argument with then-head coach Sebastián Battaglia, Almendra was sidelined from the squad until June 30, 2023, when his contract expired and he joined Racing on a free transfer.

The Xeneize filed a civil lawsuit because the midfielder did not repay money that had been lent to him for the purchase of a home in 2019. The courts ruled twice in the club’s favor, and the San Francisco Solano native will have to repay the loaned amount, plus the interest accrued from then until now and the legal costs.

Almendra’s story at Boca (69 matches, six goals, four assists, and six titles) showed great promise, but it gradually unraveled after several acts of indiscipline, slammed doors, and friction with the Football Council.

He was removed from the first-team squad in February 2022 after a heated argument with Battaglia. What seemed to be the coach’s decision ended up being a directive from the club’s leadership, as the midfielder did not play again under either Hugo Ibarra or Jorge Almirón. Part of the reason was also that his relationship with some teammates had broken down, including Darío Benedetto.

Beyond posting a photo of Juan Román Riquelme in his farewell, Almendra took several shots at the club’s leadership. “This farewell is not how I expected it to be. Unfortunately, I had no other option because several offers were rejected by the club.” And he continued, sharply: “The true Boca fans are more important than any temporary administration.”

In August 2022, the Council rejected an offer of more than $2 million from Spain’s Almería. He also drew interest from Rayo Vallecano in January 2023, before ending up at Racing. After two and a half years, more than 100 matches, and two titles with the Academia, he moved this summer to Mexico’s Necaxa.

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