Marcelo Gallardo on Carrascal’s departure, Quintero’s level and Guardiola’s praise | Other Soccer Leagues

The ‘Muñeco’ Gallardo had many issues to address in the conference this Thursday, two days before the duel against Unión por Liga. The most important, of course, the departure of the Colombian Jorge Carrascal, which opens the door to add a new reinforcement. Marcelo also spoke of Juan Fernando Quintero and recent praise from Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City.

“In the last few days, there was an interest that became concrete. I spoke with Jorge (Carrascal) and he told me that he was excited, that although he was sad because of what he experienced here, I told him that it could be good for his career to have continuity and it seemed the same to him. There was not much more than that in the communication. Details are still lacking, you have to be careful until tomorrow,” Gallardo said.

As it was known, the Cartagena native would travel to Russia this Friday to present exams and sign with the club to which he would arrive on loan until the middle of 2022. “We are resolving Jorge’s departure and based on that we talk about some possibilities. We are open to some chance. If a player leaves, bring another one that gives us a chance to continue strengthening ourselves,” he added.

On the other hand, the ‘Muñeco’ also spoke about Juanfer’s present and the possibility that he will start on Saturday. “One gets excited, but the starter is going to be the one who deserves to play. The one who doesn’t start playing doesn’t mean that he won’t do it later. We have a year full of competitions. Regardless of who starts, with the variants we have It could be that there is a lot of rotation. If Juanfer is going to play it is because he deserves it, not because of what people say”.

It should be remembered that Quintero was re-opened last Saturday at the Monumental, but he did so in a friendly against Vélez. As of today, his transfer from China has not arrived and he could not play. We will have to wait. “We still don’t have Juanfer’s clearance from China. Today he wouldn’t be able to play.”

Finally, Gallardo reacted to Guardiola’s recent statements, who considered River Plate and English Chelsea as the best teams in the world. “I never spoke with Pep Guardiola, he made that mention and I don’t know in what context. I’m not the one to contradict a coach I admire a lot. He is the best in the world and if he said that City were not the best in the world, I think he lied. He is not going to say that his team is the one that plays the best, but it seems to me that at the moment, Manchester City is among the best, they play something that I identify with.”