Riquelme returns to Boca (10 Feb 2007 14:19 GMT)
Villarreal's Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme is to return to former club Boca Juniors on loan until the end of the season.
"There were better solutions before, but the only viable one was with Boca Juniors," Villarreal director Jose Manuel Llaneza said Friday on the club's Web site.
Riquelme is scheduled to return to Villarreal on June 30.
Llaneza said it was unclear whether the Argentine would then honor the two years left on his contract.
The 28-year-old Riquelme, who played for Boca from 1996-2002 and won three league titles and two Copa Libertadores, completed the move before Argentina's transfer deadline of 0300 GMT Friday.
Spanish media has reported that the midfielder would receive $2 million to play for Boca in the Clausura championship, which starts this weekend, and the Libertadores Cup.
Riquelme has been sidelined by Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini since the start of the year because the club has been unhappy with his level of commitment despite being given privileges not enjoyed by other squad members.
The 28-year-old is one of the Primera Liga's most talented players and helped lead Villarreal to the semifinals of the Champions League last season although he struggled to recover after missing a last-gasp penalty in their defeat against Arsenal.
A masterful display in Boca's victory over Real Madrid in the World Club Cup in 2000 helped persuade Barcelona to buy the Argentine for 11 million euros ($14.28 million) in 2002, but he never won a regular place in the first team.
He was loaned out to Villarreal the following season when Barca signed Ronaldinho and there the team was effectively built around his elegant, playmaking skills.
An introverted and softly-spoken character, he retired from international football last September after winning 37 caps, saying that criticisms of his performances in the 2006 World Cup in Germany had affected his mother's health.
source : CNN