Court rules for Boca again in Almendra case, he must pay club $769k | OneFootball

The court 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 in late November, had already favored the La Ribera club, and after the appeal by the midfielder, now at Necaxa, the court once again sided with Boca.

Boca filed the complaint after the player left the club on bad terms. Following a heated argument with then-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.

Boca 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 amount lent, plus the interest accrued from that date to the present 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, abrupt departures, and clashes with the Football Council.

He was removed from the first team in February 2022 after a heated argument with Battaglia. What seemed like the coach’s decision ended up being an order from the club’s leadership, as the midfielder did not play again under either Hugo Ibarra or Jorge Almirón. In part, this was also because his relationship with some teammates had broken down, including Darío Benedetto.

Despite 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 choice due to several offers that were rejected by the club.” And he continued, sharply: “The true Boca fans are more important than any temporary administration.”

In August 2022, the Football 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.