Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni will have a decision to make regarding the national team future of four players.
Marcos Acuña and Germán Pezzella have been with River Plate for several months, while both Gonzalo Montiel and Lucas Martínez Quarta are expected to sign with the club. Marcelo Gallardo is now adding three World Cup champions to make it four alongside Franco Armani.
Lionel Scaloni had hinted at the end of 2024 that future national team call-ups will depend more on the form of the players as he did not want to make changes for the Copa America or after the tournament. With Argentina’s next two matches being against Uruguay and Brazil in March, it will be interesting to see how many of the four River Plate players make the squad.
Acuña is slowly being phased out, having not always been included in the Argentina team since joining River Plate, with injuries at times being the reason. At 33 years of age and with other regular left back Nicolás Tagliafico being 32 years of age, Scaloni could be looking for someone to replace Acuña in the team.
Valentín Barco is presently on loan at Sevilla from Brighton but his club future remains uncertain. Barco has played for Argentina once and that came in March of last year.
Alexandro Bernabei of Internacional was named as the best left back in the Brasileirão. On loan at Internacional from Celtic and only 24 years old, the Argentine could be an option on the left side.
Germán Pezzella continues to be part of the Argentina national team, having been called up for the last two matches in November. At 33 years of age and with competition from Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Nehuén Pérez, Facundo Medina, Leonardo Balerdi, a veteran in Nicolás Otamendi and possibly even Marcos Senesi and players that have not yet been called up, Scaloni will have to decide if he wants to keep Pezzella in the team.
Lucas Martínez Quarta is another center back that is facing competition. The 28 year old recently left Fiorentina and is expected to sign with River Plate but has constantly been in and out of the Argentina national team for several years.
Quarta won the 2021 and 2024 Copa America with Argentina but was not part of the team that won the World Cup. He has played as right back for Argentina, a position where Scaloni might need to bolster.
Gonzalo Montiel is set to sign with River Plate and will be leaving Sevilla. At 28 years old, he continues to be a regular for Argentina but the right back position is the one spot in the team where Argentina do not have too many options.
Montiel has been sharing the right back spot with Nahuel Molina of Atletico Madrid and aside from those two players, Scaloni has not been calling up any natural right backs. Pablo Maffeo of RCD Mallorca was called up in 2023 but has not represented Argentina.
Maffeo has represented Spain at youth level but is eligible to play for Argentina with his mother being of Argentine descent.
Scaloni will have a lot of thinking to do, specifically when it comes to the back line and the four River Plate players. With the World Cup being next year, the time for new faces could be now.
