Boca president responds to reports of £27m Arsenal move for star man

Oli Fisher

The president of Argentine side Boca Juniors has addressed speculation that one of their star players is set for a move to Arsenal.

Cristian Pavon had been linked with a £27million switch to the Gunners, who are reportedly looking for a replacement for Alexis Sanchez.

Sanchez seems set to join fellow Premier League side Manchester City in January, based on widespread reports.

Rumours suggested that Arsene Wenger was ready to pay Pavon’s £27m release clause and get the deal done quickly.

When asked about the rumours, Boca president Daniel Angelici stated: “For the moment, we have not received any proposal, formally or informally.

“But I know very well what I said to Cristian when we renewed his contract. I am not going to cut off his career, but we made him a nice contract so that he would be comfortable.

“We put a release clause in the contract just in case clubs like this appear. It’s then the player who has the last word.

“He looks fine to me, very focused on 2018 with Boca Juniors. We always help him with his future, but I trust Pavon will be with us for 2018.”

 

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Pavon’s agent, Fernando Hidalgo, also weighed in on the speculation, telling ¿Cómo te va?: “I don’t know where the news originally came from, but I received a call two days ago from an English agent to see if there was a possibility of the player moving as Arsenal are looking at him.

“If Arsenal are interested they should contact Boca and try send over an offer if they are truly interested in him.

“Nobody has called me officially from Arsenal and I haven’t had any chats in regard to this matter. If it’s true what this person was telling me then they should contact the club is what I said.

“So far I haven’t had any news from the club on this matter. Surely they would have called or something, then I would have known about it by now.”