One of the players that Marcelo Gallardo was hoping to count on for his River Plate squad heading into the 2021 Liga Profesional de Fútbol season was FC Zenit Saint Petersburg striker Sebastián Driussi.
According to various reports, the Russian club was open to the 25-year-old returning to River Plate on loan; however, there was one condition. Zenit needed to find a replacement before allowing Driussi to leave.
Nonetheless, a move back to Argentina never materialized. Some time has passed since the loan transfer fell through, and Driussi spoke about the topic, with Marca relaying his comments.
The Argentina international stated that Zenit had an offer for Grêmio’s Pepê, who would replace Driussi. However, the Brazilian club rejected Zenit’s offer and ultimately went with another for their forward.
“Pepê, the Gremio player, rejected Zenit’s offer and went to Porto. Zenit wanted to have a footballer to replace me; they had to bring a player in my place. The player was Pepe. You ruined my life; we’re going to find you (jokingly),” Driussi said.
“The European market closed, and no one wanted to come. The one who was going to come, Pepe, did not want to come to Russia. There it got complicated. That was the reason why I did not go.”
Despite wanting a return to River Plate, Driussi understands the reasoning behind Zenit’s decision to keep him and not let him leave. Regardless, the 25-year-old hopes to return to Los Millonarios sooner rather than later.
“The Zenit thing is understandable, they did not find a player, and I was not going to go on loan,” Driussi said. “Everything happens for a reason. If it is not in June, it will be next year. I do not know, but soon we will be together as new.”