Salas returns to River to revive career

By Tim Vickery

Salas may have to look for divine intervention to kick-start his career

In every close season a flood of South American players join top European clubs.

It might not attract the same kind of headlines, but at this time of year there is also a trickle going back across the Atlantic.

There are usually two explanations for the return of South American players from Europe.

Firstly, he may have failed to live up to expectations - unable, perhaps, to adapt to a different life off the field and a more physical style of football on it.

Alternatively, he may have reached the veteran stage and desire to wind down his career back where he started.

Does Marcelo Salas fit into either of these two categories?

The stocky Chilean striker has just been loaned back to River Plate, the Argentine club where he enjoyed a wonderful spell between 1996 and 1998.

It would be very harsh to dismiss Salas as a veteran in decline.

He is only 28, and should be at the peak of his powers.

But it is hard to deny that he was a failure in his two years with Juventus.

Juventus triumph over Milan

The Italian giants have spent a summer desperately trying to offload him - hardly surprisingly since the return he has brought on a considerable investment is one goal in the Champions League, and two in the Italian championship, one of them from the penalty spot.

An unlucky run of injuries, a loss of confidence, an acrimonious break up from his wife - all have contributed to a frustrating few years for the Chilean matador.

But the fact that he failed with Juventus does not mean that he failed in Europe.

Previously he spent three years with Lazio, and the first two can only be seen as triumphant.

Salas was an integral part of the most successful spell in the club's history, where Lazio won the Cup Winners' Cup and then followed it with the league and cup double.

He scored 16 league goals in his first season and 12 in his second.

If anything he may have been a victim of his own success.

His goals helped take Lazio into the Champions League, bringing the club a financial windfall that they used to buy more strikers.

Salas spent most of his time on the sidelines at Juve

It was the highpoint of football's financial frenzy.

Lazio acquired such attacking strength in depth that a proven success like Salas was soon struggling to get into the starting line-up - a blow to the self-esteem of a player who had always been a key member of the for which teams he had played.

In the last of his three years with Lazio his career lost momentum.

Now, in search of that elusive old magic he has chosen to go back to the happiest of his hunting grounds.

During his previous spell with River Plate, Salas was rated as highly as Ronaldo by Jose Pekerman, one of the most respected figures in Argentine football.

It is not a comparison which has stood the test of time - or not yet, anyway.

Salas should be able to look forward to several seasons of top-class football.

There is still time for him to give a reminder of why he was once one of the world's most feared goalscorers.

And Argentina's fans will be able to follow his comeback at first hand - a rare treat in a continent which usually says a reluctant farewell to its promising young stars.