Juanfer Quintero and Cristiano Ronado together? Argentine press suggests River Plate could be a World Cup bombshell.

Juan Fernando Quintero 's words at the end of América de Cali 's Copa Sudamericana campaign fell like a bombshell on the continent. The left-footed midfielder turned on the fan and left his possible continuation at La Mechita up in the air, while in Argentina, they dream of a stellar encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo.

"I'm finishing this semester and I'll see what decision I make. We have to focus on the local tournament. When the semester ends, I'll personally figure out what I'm going to do," Juanfer said in an interview with ESPN .

The draw and qualification for the Copa del Rey playoffs took a backseat to América de Cali 's world, as its star fueled the rumors that echoed in Argentina . Although it tried to back down, the bombshell had already fallen at the Pascual Guerrero stadium.

I'm fine. I'll finish the semester and see what's going on. I don't want any more speculation. I'm focusing on football. The player always pays the price.

"I'm fine. I'll finish the semester and see. I don't want any more speculation. I focus on football itself. The player always pays the price, but there's a lot of speculation. If I get criticized, it's no problem," he said in the mixed zone to calm the issue.

Juanfer hinted that his departure from América wouldn't be a pipe dream, and rumors about possible non-compliance with his contract surfaced. América explained to EL TIEMPO that this information isn't true, but he was clear in stating that "there are offers."

"There are no breaches on our part," the club source told this outlet. "I think there are many very high offers," he explained, without revealing the source of those offers for the player who arrived this semester.

Asked about the rumors of a return to Argentina, Juanfer said: "Let me finish this game, we'll look at the rest. Everyone knows that, in the transfer market, I'm linked to River."

Juanfer 's words resonated in Argentina , and the press fueled the possibility of a new spell for Quintero at River Plate. The newspaper Olé went further, suggesting a possible attempt to sign Cristiano Ronaldo , who also left his future at Al Nassr up in the air.

Coach Marceo Gallardo was asked at a press conference following the Copa Libertadores draw against Universitario about the possibility of signing Juanfer for the Club World Cup. "El Muñeco" declined to go into details, replying: "I'm not going to name names."

But when asked about the possibility of signing Cristiano Ronaldo, " El Muñeco" Gallardo smiled. "He repeated the phrase when they asked him about Cristiano Ronaldo! Although this time with a smile," the aforementioned newspaper explained.

Asked about reinforcements for the Club World Cup, the River Plate coach added: "I'm convinced we're going to compete. Expectations are always high. We have this squad. We'll see between now and the brief window. It's very difficult to get the chance to give our approval."

He added: “We need to consolidate what we have and see what we might be missing and what opportunities we have to add and strengthen. It will depend on what happens in the coming weeks. We're going in with very high expectations; otherwise, we wouldn't be going. It's a wonderful challenge to try to compete against the best teams in the world… I'm a born competitor; I like to compete to win. We're going to approach the competition with that mentality.”