Comparada Denies Offer Claims For Denis

Comparada rejected claims indicating that the talented striker would move to a Spanish club, more precisely Atletico Madrid, saying that it is "all a lie."

"The person who published the supposed offer for Denis from Atletico Madrid please step forward, because we didn't receive anything," he stated.

"For now the offer for Denis is all a lie. Nobody has spoken to Leo Rodriguez (his agent) or neither to me," stated Comparada.

According to the rumours Atletico Madrid are willing to dish out $16 million for the highly-rated Argentine international.

But Comparada will not believe it, unless he receives a formal offer from the Spanish club.

"This is something that is bad for everybody, it creates an uncertain atmosphere among the Independiente people, who will be the first to know if there is a sale," he affirmed.

Denis, who finished as the top scorer of the Argentine Apertura Championship last season, is likely to move abroad in the near future.

Tigre Tell Estudiantes To Up Lázzaro Offer

New Estudiantes manager Roberto Sensini has been after Lázzaro since the start of the month and was hopeful of concluding a deal for the striker when they made a second offer of $250,000 after their initial approach was flatly refused.

However, although Tigre feel that the current offer is nearer Lázzaro's true value, they still do not feel that it is quite enough and have requested a further $50,000, taking the deal to $300,000.

Lázzaro, 33, is said to be unhappy at the situation and missed Tigre's training session earlier today in what many saw as an attempt to put pressure on the club board to accept Estudiantes' offer.

He was an integral part of the Tigre side that finished in second place in the 2007 Apertura in their first ever season in the top flight of Argentine football, scoring ten goals in eighteen games.

His scoring ability attracted the attention of Sensini, who turned his attention to the experienced striker after missing out on Sebastián Abreu, who signed for River Plate instead.

With the player seemingly ready to take matters into his own hands to get the transfer he wants, it seems like it will only be a matter of days before some arrangement is met and Lázzaro gets the chance he so craves to play for Estudiantes in the 2008 Copa Libertadores.

Osmar Ferreyra joins Dnipro

Former PFC CSKA Moskva midfielder Osmar Ferreyra has joined Ukrainian Premier League leaders FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, signing a four-year contract.

First Argentinian
The 25-year-old becomes Dnipro's first Argentinian player, arriving from CA San Lorenzo in his homeland. Ferreyra started his career at CA River Plate in 2002, moving to Russia in 2004 and scoring twice in 15 league games for CSKA. After a short loan spell at PSV Eindhoven, he returned to Argentina with San Lorenzo, winning the Clausura championship in 2007.

Holek signing
Dnipro, who went into the winter break two points clear at the top of the Ukrainian table, are also expected to complete the signing of Czech Republic Under-21 midfielder Mario Holek before the end of the week. The 21-year-old will sign a four-year contract at the club, bringing with him the experience of 67 league appearances for hometown club 1. FC Brno. As Holek and Ferreyra arrive, however, Ruslan Bidnenko is poised to leave for FC Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka on loan until the end of the season.

Grisales Finally Joins Independiente

The experienced Colombian midfielder, who was one of Colon’s key players last season, affirmed to reporters on Friday that he has accepted the offer the club from Avellaneda made for him.

“Luckily my situation has been resolved,” he told “Estudio Futbol”, a program of Argentine football network TyC Sports.

Grisales, who is 32 years of age, will join his new teammates in training next week at the beach resort of Mar del Plata, 400km to the South of Buenos Aires.

“I didn’t want to put the club (Independiente) in problems, but I knew that when they would come to an agreement I would present myself,” he stated.

El Totono is excited about the possibility to join Independiente, who will play at their newly restored "Doble Visera" stadium this season.

The Colombian will be Independiente's first signing of the season, and much will be expected of him at his new club.

Transfer Market Heats Up In Argentina

As usual, Argentina's big two Boca Juniors and River Plate are the club's who are making a stand in the transfer market. Not only have they appointed new coaches this season: Carlos Ischia and Diego Simeone, respectively, but their squads are taking some shape.

Boca Juniors may have offloaded teenage sensation Ever Banega to Valencia, but they have been reinforced by key playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, a player who guided them to the Copa Libertadores title last year.

Their other important signing was that of Lucas Castroman, who returned to Argentine football after a brief stint with Club America of Mexico.

Bitter rivals River Plate haven't had much to show for in recent years, but although they sold team-captain Fernando Belluschi to Olympiakos of Greece, they have reinforced their side with popular Uruguayan international striker Sebastian Abreu, who has played most of his career in Mexican football.

Earlier in the week they signed Gustavo Cabral from Racing Club, a highly-talented defender with a bright future.

2007 Clausura champions San Lorenzo have signed former Argentine international Diego Placente, while they have offloaded Gaston Fernandez, Osmar Ferreyra, and Walter Montillo.

While last season's Apertura champions Lanus, have only made one new signing, that of Ivan Macalik. But they are expected to make more incorporations in the coming weeks.

Uruguayan striker Diego Alonso has been Gimnasia de La Plata's only new signing to date, although they could close in on Guillermo Barros Schelotto of the Columbus Crew.

Hugo Tocalli's Velez Sarsfield have reinforced their squad with Patricio Perez, and Waldo Ponce, but have offloaded Mexican international Mario Mendez, who returned to Toluca.

Independiente have yet to make any new signings, as haven't Avellaneda rivals Racing Club. Both clubs will need to make some signings if they want to improve on poor campaigns last season.

Castroman: Boca Move Was A Dream Come True

Lucas Castroman, Boca's latest signing, praised his new teammates, and the institution, and affirmed to the press that when Boca showed an interest in him he couldn't refuse but to join the club.

"Today I am at the team where I always dreamed to be as a youngster,"affirmed Castroman, who on Tuesday commenced training with his new club at Casa Amarilla, La Boca, Buenos Aires.

Castroman, who on Wednesday will travel to Tandil with the rest of the squad as they prepare for the Torneos de Verano, declared that he can play in a number of different positions, a talent that can be very useful for the team this season.

"I play some matches as a striker, and others as a midfielder," he said.

The tricky former Argentine international, who has played for Lazio, Udinese, Velez Sarsfield, and Club America, insists that he will do his utmost to help the South American champions achieve more success this season.

"Boca don't just have one team, they have up to two or three teams, and all their players are of a very high quality, and we have to do our best to help the club reach all their objectives, which is to fight for all the tournaments they participate in," he stated.

The highly-rated striker, who didn't live up to the expectation generated by his move to his last club, America of Mexico, told reporters that he was very well received by the Boca squad, and he is looking forward to his one-year contract with the club.

"When they asked me to join Boca I didn't hesitate, I respect the other clubs I played for, especially Velez, who I did my best for when I was there, but Boca is Boca," he explained.

Finally, Castroman defended claims made by Juan Roman Riquelme earlier in the week:

"We all have to work to our full capacity to earn ourselves a place in the team."

Castroman is hoping that at Boca he can rediscover the same form that had him voted as the best player in the Argentine First Division a few seasons ago.

Argentine Belluschi signs for Olympiakos

Greek champions Olympiakos Piraeus have signed Argentina international midfielder Fernando Belluschi on a four-and-a-half year contract, the club said on Tuesday.

No details of the fee to be paid to his previous club River Plate have been made public but reports in the Greek media said it could reach 6.5 million euros.

"I am very happy. I was really anxious for the negotiations to be completed," Belluschi, 24, told reporters.

"Now I just want to get involved in training as soon as possible."

Belluschi, who has two caps, is unlikely to feature in the derby against Panathinaikos at the weekend but should play a part in Olympiakos plans against Chelsea in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League next month.

"It is a dream for every Argentine footballer to play in Europe," he said. "I feel lucky and happy to be here and hope that I can reproduce the form I had in Argentina."

Greek media have reported Olympiakos are negotiating with another Argentine, Sergio Almiron, who joined Juventus for nine million euros in June but has only played three times.

Velez Thrash Douglas Haig In Preseason

Velez dominated the match against weak opponents, winning the match with goals from Leonel Rios, Facundo Coria, and Gustavo Balvorin, who scored twice.

Hugo Tocalli, who replaced Ricardo La Volpe as the coach of the 1994 Intercontinental Cup winners, played with what looks likely to be their starting eleven looking ahead to the start of the Clausura Championship.

The encounter lasted only 60 minutes and was played at the Campo del Parque training facility in Necochea.

After the match Velez’s reserve players faced the reserve team of the Pergaminenses, winning the match 2-1, with a double strike from Dario Ocampo.

In the afternoon, the Velez squad moved to the gym, where they concentrated on light physical activity.