In the first transfer window under new leadership, headed by then 26-year-old president Matías Mariotto, Banfield had a technical secretariat led by Fernando Romano and two managers, former players Cristian Lucchetti, an icon of the club, and Mariano Andújar. Among other signings, they completed the arrival of midfielder Martín Río from Querétaro. The central midfielder with a past at Quilmes arrived on a one-year loan, with a salary of 80,000 dollars and a purchase option for 650,000 dollars for 50% of his pass. His stay at “El Taladro” was approved. Buenos Aires, March 8 (NA) – Banfield forward Rodrigo Auzmendi has reportedly reached an agreement to become a new reinforcement for Lanús, the recent champion of the 2026 South American Recopa. According to the Argentine News Agency, the attacker would be transferred to Querétaro of Mexico in exchange for the cancellation of a debt owed by “El Taladro” and then would arrive on loan at Lanús. Thus, Auzmendi would join a long list of players who have worn both shirts that star in the “Clásico del Sur”, trying to follow in the footsteps of his positional partner José “Pepe” Sand, who scored 10 goals with the Banfield shirt in one year on loan, including one against “El Granate”, before having three cycles at Lanús and even lifting four titles. In one of the most surprising transfers of the current and long transfer window, 25-year-old forward Rodrigo Auzmendi will leave Banfield to wear the shirt of his eternal rival: Lanús. The explanation lies in the transfers made by “El Taladro” to open the 2025 season. Although he was a defensive midfielder and the team had a bad first half in this aspect of the game, the midfielder settled in from the arrival on the bench of DT Pedro Troglio, who counted on him as a fundamental piece in the middle of the field for his deployment and an unexpected weapon, the header: Río scored five goals, all with Troglio as coach, and was the team's top scorer of the year. A positive season generated the interest of various teams, so Banfield decided to use the aforementioned purchase option and subsequently sell him to Talleres de Córdoba, at the beginning of this year, for 1,800,000 dollars, to be split equally between “El Taladro” and the Mexican team. Thus, the Albiverde team had a surplus of 170,000 dollars, although the story was not over, since the club from the South of Greater Buenos Aires did not pay the promised fee for the option and ended up with a debt of around one million dollars. In that context, and with the objective of selling Auzmendi from the start of the season, he had already been offered to Boca and Rosario Central, Banfield decided to use the forward as a bargaining chip, as a means to cancel what was owed. Since Querétaro has no quota to incorporate the Argentine, they are forced to cede him, with San Lorenzo and Lanús as the main candidates. The Mexican club put the same offer on the table for both clubs, a loan without a fee with a 4 million dollar option for 100%, and at this point it is “El Granate” who has the incorporation on track. In this way, Auzmendi would cross the street in the Greater Buenos Aires area, with a move that guarantees him to be viewed favorably by Lanús sympathizers, at least until he starts to perform as a player with the garnet-colored shirt. Rodrigo Auzmendi would close his cycle at Banfield with four goals and two assists in 22 matches, having lost his starting position since the beginning of the year, and would play for his fourth professional team, having a past at San Marcos de Arica, from the Chilean second division, and Motagua of the first division of Honduras.
