Who is Cristian “E Kichán” Pavón
Photo by: @kenneth_arts
On the 18th of July, Atlético will register Pavón as a club player. The player's contract with Boca Juniors ended on June 30 and he has already been announced by Mineiro. What to expect from the main reinforcement of this transfer window?
Cristian Pavón started his footballing career at Talleres in Argentina and after standing out he was bought by Boca Juniors. Touted as one of Argentina's biggest prospects in recent years, he won two Argentine championships, an Argentine Cup and an Argentine Super Cup with Boca.
In 2018, Pavón was called up to the National Team to play in the World Cup, he took to the field in every game and started in Argentina's elimination game. At that time, he was compared to Alexis Sánchez and was much admired by coach Jorge Sampaoli, who coached the national team during the cup.
Praised by the greatest in the world, expectations about Pavón are very high. In the national team, he was praised by Messi:
“He is a very fast player and he makes the difference. I found a new partner.”
Lionel indicated the signing of the player from Barcelona, at the same time that there was a rumor that Arsenal were willing to pay 50 million euros for him, but the negotiation did not take place. At the same time, Di Maria also praised the player:
“He had a great year and it will certainly be difficult to keep him at Boca. It is difficult not to sell a player like that, any club in Europe will want to have him, and certainly after the World Cup much more.”
Argentina's rapid elimination may have contributed to the predictions not having gone as expected. So he went to play in MLS after the world cup. During the 2019 and 2020 seasons, he played with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the Los Angeles Galaxy. Ibra also praised the forward:
“He is very good, very good. Pavón is too good for the MLS, he won't be here long.”
After playing good games in the MLS, the club did not accept to pay the amount requested by Boca Júniors and the player returned to Argentina. Playing for Boca in 2021, he won the Copa Argentina with 36 games, four goals and five assists. But, at the beginning of 2022, he had some problems with the management of the Argentine club. There were some complaints about the medical treatment he was subjected to after injuring his ankle and, mainly, complaints about the contract renewal fees.
In addition, he had been in trouble with the justice since 2021 when he was denounced for sexual abuse after a party in Córdoba. Pavón was the subject of a preventive detention order because of this, but for now he remains free to play football. The process has not yet ended, but the Mineiro sent a lawyer to Argentina in 2022 to have access to the process and obtain a technical report from the professional. Ultimately, the lawyer concluded that the victim's account is serious and appears to be true, but that the evidence does not indicate that the player committed the abuse.
Therefore, in February 2022, Pavón and Atlético announced a pre-contract after the player decided not to renew his contract with the Argentine club. Now, the player has been announced by the Brazilian team and will have to overcome the complicated history that has even a widespread fight in the game of Boca against Atlético Mineiro on October 8, 2021. On this day, after Boca was eliminated from Libertadores after losing for the Mineiro, there was a general fight where Pavón was filmed throwing an aluminum drinking fountain at the security guards of the stadium.
Because of this, he will not be able to play the midweek GWs when Mineiro plays the Libertadores Cup. Pavón received 6 games of suspension by CONMEBOL and the first game that will serve the punishment will be after the 18th of this month when he will be registered. Considering only the matches after the 18th of July, if Mineiro reaches the final of the competition, the team will play only 5 games until the final.
In view of all this surreal life story, the expectation is that the player will be an absolute starter in Mineiro, as long as he is not arrested.
How will Atletico be after the arrival of the new players.
With the arrival of new reinforcements for the Brazilian winter, Pavón will be the new absolute starter in Keno's spot, which is suffering a lot from constant injuries.
Zaracho should regain his space on the right side of the attack when he is recovered, but if he doesn't return well and Keno stops getting hurt, Pavón can also play on the right side and Keno on the left. But this seems to me the least likely option if they are all available.
Coach Mohamed has not yet said whether he intends to build the team with Pedrinho (Shakhtar) and Ignacio Fernández playing together. For now, Nacho should continue, he is in great shape and there is no reason to leave the team. A less likely option, but which can also happen, is Pedrinho playing on the left, Pavón on the right and Nacho in the middle.
In any case, Hulk will continue as an absolute starter and Alan Kardec will compete for first reserve status with Vargas. Sasha will lose even more space and can be traded until the beginning of next year.
