Juan Alfredo Cuentas reveals opposition to Ariel Nahuelpán's signing
Juan Alfredo Cuentas, former financial vice president of Barcelona Sporting Club, revealed that he opposed the hiring of Argentine forward Ariel Nahuelpán in 2017. However, an agreement was reached for Carlos Alejandro Alfaro Moreno, the sports vice president at the time, to handle the negotiations for the signing of the striker. The club must pay $1,104,800 plus 5% annual interest ($55,240 per year) to Nahuelpán after winning the lawsuit filed in FIFA.
In order for Nahuelpán to return to the team, Barcelona SC had to pay around $1,300,000 to Inter de Porto Alegre from Brazil, the club where he was playing, to terminate his contract. Since the club didn't have the necessary resources, the player contributed his own money. Yesterday, José Francisco Cevallos, former president of the institution, stated that they are fulfilling a payment agreement with the striker, but fulfilling these payments became complicated due to claims filed by former players and coaches under the administrations of Eduardo Maruri and Antonio Noboa before FIFA.
"There is nothing to hide. It caught my attention to hear journalists inventing things and becoming mythomaniacs. Before the transfer window closed in Mexico, we talked again about bringing Nahuelpán. Economically, it was tight to hire him, as we were going to have debts that were not activated but had to be paid as it happened," commented Cuentas in a conversation with Radio Huancavilca.
- Barcelona SC had José Francisco Cevallos, Juan Alfredo Cuentas, and Alfaro Moreno as creditors for consumer loans, according to the PKF audit.
"I was always against the player's arrival. There was a conversation with the sports vice president (Alfaro Moreno, who is now the president). In the end, the decision was made and the risk was taken with Nahuelpán. We also took risks with Xavier Arreaga, Félix Torres, Fidel Martínez. We always made those signings to sell them in the end, and the same was thought with Nahuelpán. Risks were taken with Nahuelpán, he is not a player who was injured like Rolando Zárate."
"After leaving Barcelona, he went to Mexico and became a star in Xolos. Nahuelpán was never signed to harm Barcelona. Nobody remembers that the player filed a lawsuit against the club, and that's why he was taken out of the team," he continued.
Cuentas said that Alfaro Moreno was in charge of hiring the striker. "At the time, the sports vice president (Alfaro) negotiated, agreed, and handled all the terms for Nahuelpán to come to Barcelona."
Message to current directors: "The current directors will have to explain how they will handle this issue. I do feel sorry for how the debts were managed. This is the first major one they have. When I came, the first thing we had to pay was Elvis Patta, then coach Benito Floro, Rolando Zárate, etc. We solved it at the time when we had significant debts. I always remember that a current leader said, 'Barcelona sells itself.' With that policy, they will be able to solve the debts and generate new resources." (D)