The most bizarre Boca Juniors signings

The transfer window in South America is a little different from Europe. For example, due to different reasons such as economic, structural or social factors, players from outside the region do not usually go to clubs in these countries. It is surprising when a European player (born and raised in Europe) goes to play in a South American league. The big exception is Brasileirao, the Brazilian top league, which, thanks to significant economic power, in recent years has brought some European players and managers to its league.

Outside Juniors home stadium

In Argentina, due to the economy and quality of life in the first half of the last century, it was more common to see Spaniards or Italians in local clubs, although that is now very rare. That is why now we are going to review players of nationalities outside of South America who came to the Argentine league and more precisely, to Boca JuniorsBoca Juniors, one of the most important clubs in the region, which has made peculiar signings in this sense.

Alphonse Tchami - Cameroon

The Cameroonian was a striker who began his career in his country although at the age of 20 he emigrated to Denmark to play, first with Vejle and then with Odense. From there, he would go to Boca Juniors, in 1994, where he would coincide with Diego Maradona. The signing itself was strange and generated certain doubts. However Tchami showed from the beginning that he was going to be a player who would make significant contributions to the Xeneize club (the most common nickname for Boca Juniors).

Tchami would score 11 goals in 50 games with Boca, some as important as the one he scored against River Plate in a superclásico in 1995. The Cameroonian can also boast of being the one who assisted Juan Román Riquelme in his first goal in the highest category of Argentinian football. The striker became a very loved player both in the squad and by the fans, but an overbooking of players in that position in the club led him to try his luck Germany (Hertha Berlin). The rest of his career would take him to France, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates, among others, although without having a prominent role.

Luis Hernández - Mexico

It is very common for Argentine players to go to Mexico, but the reverse case is much less normal, but Luis Hernández was the exception. "El Matador" began his career in Cruz Azul and had stints in Queretaro and Monterrey before arriving in Necaxa where he would establish himself as one of the best strikers in Mexico. In 1997, he participated with his national team in the Copa América held in Bolivia, where he became the tournament's top scorer.

Clubs from Germany and France were interested in him but Diego Maradona requested his signing for Boca Juniors and the club approached Necaxa to close the loan for Hernández. The limit of foreigners in the squad was five, although only three could be on the pitch, usually them being Óscar Córdova, Norberto Solano and Jorge Bermúdez, who were all very important footballers for that side. With the 1998 FIFA World Cup very close, Hernández asked to end the loan and return to Mexico.

Daniele De Rossi - Italy

De Rossi arrived at AS Roma in 2000 at the age of 17 and would be there for 19 years, becoming the captain who would inherit Francesco Totti's armband. It seemed that the 2006 World Cup winner would retire at the Roman club, but, in 2019, he would sign a one-year contract with Boca Juniors to the surprise of many. De Rossi explained that he always felt admiration for the Xeneize club and wanted to live the experience of defending that shirt in his career.

In fact, the Italian's playing style seemed to fit with that of Boca and Argentine football in general, so, in a way, the signing made some sense. The reality was that, despite winning the Argentinian league, his time at the club was not very outstanding and 7 months after arriving, he terminated his contract and at the same time retired from professional football.

Mikael Yourassowsky - Belgium

The Belgian was a full back who trained at Anderlecht and who, at the age of 18, did a four-month trial at FC Barcelona, although without success. A couple of years later, not having opportunities in Anderlecht's first team, he went to Genk, where he also did not have the minutes he wanted. In 2004, and thanks to the fact that his agent was Argentine, Yourassowsky signed with Boca Juniors for their reserve team.

He managed to play a couple of official matches with the Boca Juniors first team, although a ligament injury would cut short his progression and his stay at the Xeneize club. After his time in Argentina, he would play in Spain, Greece, Croatia, in the MLS and return to Belgium to retire in 2015.

Naohiro Takahara - Japan

Naohiro Takahara had a promising start to his career, scoring 65 goals in 124 games for his country's Jubilo Iwata. In 2001, when the Asian market was seen as an environment where football could generate a lot of income, Boca Juniors completed the loan of the Japanese striker. Takahara would play only six official matches with the Xeneize shirt, although he would have the opportunity to score a goal, in a match against Lanus.

When looking back at the Japanese's celebration (and even the one from his manager, Carlos Bianchi), you could see how much he wanted to score that goal. However, it would be the first and last goal with the institution. The loan would end and Takahara would return to Jubilo Iwata. After that he made a name for himself in Europe. Thanks to his experience after playing in Argentina, he would land a contract with Hamburg, where he spent a few years before moving to Eintracht Frankfurt, and he spent six years in total the German Bundesliga before returning to Japan.