Gallardo primed for River return

The Argentine playmaker had been eager to sever his ties with the Principality side following a long-running dispute regarding the payment of wages.

Monaco's Championnat rivals Marseille had been interested in luring Gallardo to Stade Velodrome but the 27-year-old has opted to return to his homeland.

River Plate are poised to discuss personal terms with Gallardo but the Argentine international does not anticipate any problems sealing a return to his former club.

"I am very happy because I will return to Argentina," said Gallardo. "This is what I wanted at this moment of my career.

"Now I am going to talk with the board members of River and there will not be any problem for reaching an agreement with them.

"All the players that had the chance to wear River's shirt want to go back to that team some day so I feel very proud for having that chance again.

"This is like going back home, even more for the players that were at River from a very young age. You feel this shirt is in your skin."

Gallardo conceded negotiations to terminate his deal at Monaco proved cumbersome but he eventually managed to thrash out a deal with the club's paymasters.

He added: "It was really difficult to end the contract with Monaco because I was under contract for one more year but hopefully it ended the way I wanted."

The schemer's agent Alberto Caliendo confirmed Monaco's failure to pay all of Gallardo's salary enabled the South American to wriggle out of his contract.

Caliendo stated: "Marcelo managed to get free from Monaco because the club owed him a lot of money.

"Now he has to sit down and negotiate with the board members of River but he knows that he will not have any problem."