“I was in the middle of a divorce.” That’s how David Trezeguet began his account of December 2011, the month a world champion with France decided to drop down to the Primera B Nacional.
The separation process, he clarified, had begun in 2010, and since then he had moved to the United Arab Emirates to see if the relationship could still be salvaged. But then River appeared, a giant wounded by relegation, and everything else took a back seat. He didn’t discuss it with his wife. As he told it, the decision was straightforward: “I’m going to River, and I’m going to Argentina. There was no way around it, and a month later I signed the divorce agreement”.
He arrived at 34, on a one-year loan and earning far less than he had in Europe and the United Arab Emirates. He said he signed before a River-Boca match, that he didn’t have his partner’s support, and that the decision ultimately pushed him to finalize the divorce. He denied the rumors of a falling-out with Cavenaghi and Chori Domínguez: he said the respect was “extraordinary” and that everyone was rowing in the same direction toward promotion, which came in the 2011/12 season with Matías Almeyda as head coach.
Today he holds an institutional role at the club. Was the cost worth it?
