Santiago Cáseres turned down River Plate to move to América | OneFootball

Santiago Cáseres has revealed he snubbed interest from River Plate in his native Argentina in order to move to América.

The defensive midfielder is currently on loan with the Azulcrema until the end of the Clausura.

He was brought in from parent club Villareal in January as a direct replacement for Guido Rodríguez who had signed for Real Betis after the Apertura.

Cáseres initially struggled to find his feet with Las Águilas, but started to get into rhythm in the weeks just prior to the suspension of Liga MX due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to Argentine programme Ataque Futbolero Radio, the former Vélez Sarsfield man said that the size of América convinced him to steer clear of a to return to his homeland.

“My manager had told me about the possibility of joining River, but América is a big club maybe even as big as Boca so I decided to join the Liga MX team instead,” Cáseres said.

The 23-year-old added that América manager Miguel Herrera helped him settle at the club, and described what it is like to play at such a famous venue.

“At first I had a hard time with the altitude of the city but Miguel Herrera helped me so much.

“He is a fantastic head coach and that gave me tranquility and time to adapt.

“For Argentinian players the Azteca Stadium is an important place because Maradona played here and we won the World Cup.”

In relation to the current suspension of play, Cáseres insisted he would have no objection to taking a pay cut in order to help the club meet the wages of other staff.