The Boca idol explained how the relationship with the club's current president cooled after the 2007 Copa Libertadores
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In an interview with Juan Pablo Varsky on the Clank! channel, Martín Palermo referred to the distancing that he experienced with Juan Román Riquelme in the last years that they shared at Boca. The Titan acknowledged that he was never able to identify a specific incident that would explain the break in the relationship and stated that the change occurred after 2008, although he clarified that there were no arguments or open conflicts between them.
"I don't know what episode might have changed the relationship, but the bond did change after 2008. Before that we were very close," the former striker explained in an interview.
Palermo recalled that during the 2007 Copa Libertadores, when Riquelme returned to the club, they spent a large part of the day together with Hugo Ibarra. "We were together all the time. Up to that point there was a very close bond. He lived for a year in a house that I had in Villarreal," he detailed.
The Titan ruled out the idea that the remembered failure to celebrate together after a goal against Arsenal in 2010 was the trigger for the distancing. "It had already started before. In 2008 I got injured and I wasn't very involved in the squad's day-to-day life," he explained, while emphasizing that there were never any fights or direct arguments.
According to Palermo, the relationship changed over time and it never went back to what it had been. "Things did not turn out as they had been before and until I retired the relationship was one of respect, but it was no longer the same bond as before. We respected each other, but neither of us tried to see what had happened. Meanwhile, that affected the group and coexistence," he maintained.
Palermo y Riquelme mantuvieron una relación de respeto
In any case, he made it clear that this personal distance was never transferred to the field. "On the field we both went all out and we prioritized Boca. We needed each other and we prioritized respect for Boca's jersey, for the fans, and for our teammates," he stressed.
Palermo also said that, beyond a chance meeting in 2023 during Villarreal's centenary, he has not met with Riquelme again. "There was no meeting because there was nothing to clear up. Today we see each other and we greet each other, but it's not like before, when we would go eat a barbecue or leave training and go eat a sandwich," he concluded.
Palermo's opinion on Riquelme's current management at Boca
In another part of the interview, Palermo also referred to Riquelme's current leadership at Boca. The Titan was cautious when referring to the club's current institutional situation and emphasized that it is a complex situation to comment on from the outside.
"The institutional context at Boca is tense. But since I retired, I feel that if you don't experience Boca World on a day-to-day basis, you don't have the right to give an opinion because it's a world apart," the former striker expressed.
Palermo evitó dar su mirada sobre la actual gestión de Boca
Along those lines, Palermo explained why he prefers not to get involved in boardroom debates: "It's a strange situation. Obviously Román's image is strong and that generates different controversies in opinions, but I'm not going to be part of speaking today or saying something about his management or methods or ways. I never did so regarding what he was like as a player or as a person, and today I'm even less going to do so from the outside."
Finally, he made it clear what his main wish is as a club idol: "What one wants most, because of everything one has experienced, is for things to go well for Boca. Not for things to go well for Román as president, for the coach at the time, or for the players, but for the people, because Boca's people are what make it great."
