Overview
- The contract was signed in the club president's office on Friday, May 29 and takes effect July 1, 2026 running through December 31, 2027.
- Otamendi will join River only after completing his participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup and has said he will retire from the Argentina national team afterward.
- He arrives as a free agent after leaving Benfica and brings long international experience, making him the fifth World Cup winner in River's current roster.
- River presented Otamendi as its first major reinforcement and is pursuing other targets such as Mauro Arambarri, Giovanni Simeone and Ángel Correa while media reports link the sale of Sebastián Boselli to Getafe to the club's transfer flexibility and suggest Otamendi's signing could trigger departures including Paulo Díaz.
- Otamendi will enter a busy second half of the year for River that includes the domestic league, Copa Argentina and Copa Sudamericana and a preseason in Alicante that means his early club availability will depend on Argentina's World Cup run.