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Lucas Alario eligible to play for Leverkusen

Fredy Builes / Reuters

Lucas Alario's aerial skills are Bayer 04 Leverkusen's to use.

On Thursday, Leverkusen announced that Alario is eligible to play for the Werkself. The club finalised the signing of the Argentinian centre-forward from River Plate after filing a request for registration with FIFA due to the Asociacion del Futbol Argentino's refusal to release the product of Club Atletico Colon.

Alario also put pen to paper on a five-year contract until 2022 and was given No. 13.

"We've been watching Alario for some time," Rudi Voller, Leverkusen's sporting director, said. "He has developed well over the past two years and is one of the best strikers in South America."

Leverkusen declared that River had given Alario the contractual right to leave Los Millonarios on payment of a transfer fee, and that the footballer exercised that right. The Argentinian club, on the other hand, published a chronology and documentation of the situation, stating that an offer - valued at €14 million plus €2 million to be paid in steps - was rejected, and that the player underwent a medical without its consent. The AFA subsequently informed River of a deposit worth €23.8 million that Leverkusen put into one of the association's accounts.

Alario, who joined River from Colon in 2015, was pivotal as Los Millonarios conquered the Copa Libertadores, scoring against Club Guarani in the semi-final and finding the back of the net versus Club Tigres UANL in the final.

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