Boca Races Against the Clock to Land a Midfielder Before Monday

The clock is ticking at Boca. Not because of a match, but over something happening far from the field: club officials have until Monday to decide whether to bring in a reinforcement, and it all started with bad news in midfield.

Tomas Aranda got injured and won't be available again until next preseason. That blow, combined with the fact that Boca is competing on three fronts (the Torneo Clausura, Copa Argentina and the Sudamericana series against Sao Paulo), set off alarm bells at the club's training complex. Coach Vasco Arruabarrena, for his part, is keeping his focus on what's right in front of him: Central Cordoba awaits this Friday in the Clausura, and at the same time he's already fully immersed in preparing for the continental showdown against the Brazilian side.

But the coach isn't tuning out the transfer market. According to Martin Arevalo on Buen Dia ESPN, Arruabarrena himself is set to hand club officials a list of names in an effort to close a signing in the coming hours. The need is clear: the midfield came up short, and there's absolute priority on adding a midfielder before a center back.

To understand the urgency, just look at what's happening on the other side of the ball: Boca just lost Kevin Zenon, who had been back in the fold before ending up as a brand new signing for Mexico's Atlas. The club did get Rodrigo Battaglia back after he recovered from a serious injury, but that's not enough to handle the demands of playing every three days across three different competitions.

The Names in Play

One name that came up was Federico Redondo of Spain's Elche, but the club has made clear that door is closed: he's not a realistic option right now. The search, in fact, is focused inside Argentine soccer.

Among the players who have been offered are Nacho Vazquez of Platense and Manuel Insaurralde of San Lorenzo. However, the name gaining the most momentum is Matias Galarza, a 24-year-old midfielder currently playing for Talleres de Cordoba. He's no stranger to Boca: Juan Roman Riquelme had already been tracking him closely back when the midfielder was playing for Belgium's Genk, according to reporting by Diego Monroig. The advantage now is that Galarza is playing in Argentina, which would make any negotiation easier given the tight timeline.

Still, it's worth tempering expectations: as of now there's no negotiation open, not even one in the early stages. What does exist is a firm intention to strengthen the midfield before the transfer window closes. Will the weekend be enough to get something done? That's the key question hanging over the Ribera in these hours.