Overview

• In the first-person piece, Mac Allister asserts that Riquelme, newly in charge of Boca’s football decisions, declined to keep him beyond his six-month loan in early 2020
• Former Consejo de Fútbol member Marcelo Delgado reiterates the club’s position that Mac Allister asked to leave after obtaining a work visa
• The midfielder recalls calling his mother in tears and weighing offers from Russia and Spain before rebuilding his career in England
• His abrupt Boca departure followed the December 2019 leadership overhaul and prefaced his success at Brighton, a move to Liverpool, a World Cup win and a Premier League title
• Despite extensive Argentine media coverage since the essay’s publication, neither Riquelme nor Boca have offered new public acknowledgment or reconciliation