Riquelme: All I Want To Do Is Play Each Sunday
In what was most likely his last press conference as a Villarreal player, Juan Roman Riquelme claimed that he'd done everything possible to secure his release from the Yellow Submarine, and that he was looking forward to lining up once more for Boca Juniors...
zoom - galleria Juan Roman Riquelme spoke out in a press conference yesterday about his acrimonious departure from Villarreal, which seems to be forthcoming.
"Nobody has made more effort than me out of the three parties involved [player, Boca Juniors, Villarreal]," claimed the gifted midfielder.
Indeed, Roman claimed that, as he seeks for Villarreal to pay off his contract in full, he in fact offered his club the chance to defer such payments in summer.
"I don't think that I can do this any longer," he said.
Now, with a six million euro clause on his contract let unsettled, he believes that Boca's offer to pay half is more than generous.
"I don't believe that Villarreal will lose money," he said.
"Boca will essentially pay everything for a player that won't play for five months.
"I am a very simple person; all I want is to play football each Sunday. That's the only way that I can go to the World Cup 2010, and that's what I really want.
"The only solution is to play another year at Boca, because I'm also a big fan of Boca."
Roman revealed that Juande Ramos at Tottenham Hotspur had given him a call with a view to signing him, but he was also adamant that he'd only leave for Boca.
"I appreciated the interest, but I rejected it because I have a family that's happy in Spain and I said that, if I left, it would be for my country," he noted.
"The people of Villarreal have always treated me very well."
