Pablo Aimar with River between 1996 and 2000

River Plate President, Rodolfo D’Onofrio has told Argentine radio reporters that Pablo Aimar will probably be re-signing for the club where he made his name in the next couple of days. Aimar has been a free agent since ending his contract with Malaysian side, Johor Darul Takzim and this will see him link up with former River team mate, Marcelo Gallardo who has taken over as manager.

D’Onofrio was quoted as saying, “we believe that we (River) will define Aimar’s incorportation in the next few days. It is very probably that we will bring him, if his physical condition is good we will take him.”

This would be the only doubt given that Aimar and Johor darul Takzim agreed to terminate his contract given the recurring injuries that the former Argentina star suffered. Aimar himself said some weeks ago that he would only return to River if he was physically able to do so.

There is certainly a willingness to do so on River’s part and if Manuel Lanzini is to leave this window and Aimar wore the number 10 shirt again it would be excellent to see River and Boca potentially clash with two legendary number 10s (Riquelme’s own situation is obviously very unclear).

Aimar started his career with River and played 82 times between 1996 and 2000 before Valencia signed him for €24 million. A fee reserved for a player who at the time was considered to be potentially the next great Argentine playmaker. Aimar went on to have a very successful career with Valencia and Benfica but now the 34-year old version will look to rekindle the magic for River.

Much will depend on who leaves River in the coming weeks. Several players are linked with moves away from El Monumental but D’Onofrio told reporters, “The offers that have arrived are not what we want and although we need to sell to stabilize the economy, we will not make bad sales. When the World Cup finishes we will see what happens, we are not in a rush.”